After the Music
by weaksauce
Summary: Ryan and Troy try to navigate the uncertain, and often life changing, terrain of college. They meet new friends and share new experiences, but most of all they have each other. SLASH MxM RyanTroy Tryan
1. Chapter 1

"Troy, do you really think joining a fraternity is the wisest thing to do?" Ryan asked. He was still having problems understanding why his boyfriend of a year and a half would want to do such a crazy thing.

"I mean, they're not really known for being the most gay-friendly environments.…" Ryan trailed off as Troy turned around to finally face his disgruntled boyfriend.

"Ryan, I know all of the stereotypes," Troy said as he grasped both of Ryan's hands, keeping them from flailing around anymore than they already were. "But don't you ever think that's all they are? Just stereotypes?"

"Well, I …" Ryan began.

"It's just like when we started dating," Troy started, cutting Ryan off. "Everyone thought it was just based on sex, that it would never last — all stereotypes."

Troy pulled Ryan closer to him as they were standing. "It's been over a year and a half." Ryan lowered his head onto Troy's shoulder. "We continually defy what other people think of us, and I just want to make sure that I at least give other people the chance to prove themselves to me."

Ryan breathed deeply. He couldn't really argue with what Troy was saying. He was right … as usual.

"Come on, Ry. Let's see what this campus is all about." Troy said as he took a hold of Ryan's hand and started dragging him up the sidewalk. "This place is so beautiful. I want to see all of it."

Ryan had to admit, the campus was unlike any of the universities in New Mexico. It had the feel of a park to it. All of the buildings lined the small service streets and sidewalks, leaving large expanses of open areas to create different "quads" throughout the main campus.

As the two walked passed a larger-than-average building, which Ryan could only assume was the library, Ryan let out a low whistle at the group guys that were walking around without their shirts on while playing a game of Frisbee.

"Dang. I thought scenes like this only happened in California," Ryan said, as if in awe.

"Huh?" Troy asked as he whipped his head around to see what his boyfriend was gawking at.

"If I knew I could walk around parks and see big groups of guys like this, I would have been begging my parents to move to Oregon a long time ago," Ryan chuckled.

Troy turned to his boyfriend with a mock-affronted look on his face, arched one eyebrow and put his hands on his hips and saying: "What do they got that I don't got?"

Ryan laughed and hugged Troy around his middle, burying his face in Troy's chest. "Well, they don't have me. That's one thing."

"Yeah, I am pretty lucky with that one, huh?" Troy said as he rested his cheek against the top of Ryan's head.

"Yeah, you are." Ryan laughed. "Besides, I wouldn't be able to survive the non-summer months around here when all it does is rain without you … who would I have to keep me warm and dry?"

"Yep," Troy said with an exasperated sigh. "That's what I am. An oversized electric blanket and walking/talking umbrella."

Ryan punched Troy softly in the shoulder and laughed. "Yeah, but you're my walking/talking umbrella."

"That, I am." Troy said with a smile.

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"Troy, I'm sorry to say this, but your room is a dump." Ryan said as he walked through the doorway and into his boyfriend's cramped living space.

Troy walked around the small room, cringing as he wiped his finger across one of the decrepit desks revealing a huge layer of dust. "Well, they're not going to give me a really nice room if I'm only going to live in it until after Rush Week."

"But still …" Ryan began as he gave the room another frightened look. "I think they could have at least put you somewhere where you wouldn't be afraid to turn off the lights."

Troy smirked and walked over to his boyfriend, pulling him from the doorway and into the room proper. He wrapped his arms around Ryan's slender waist and pressed his forehead against the blond scruff of his boyfriends head.

"Don't you think I'd be able to protect you from all the creepy-crawlies that might come out when I turn off the light?" Troy asked in a soft growl.

"It's not that, babe. It's just … Troy, it's dirty in here," Ryan whined. "It reminds me of some sleazy hotel where you take your mistress to screw before you go home to your wife."

"Lucky for you, I don't have a wife, huh?" Troy asked.

Ryan grinned and gently shoved away from Troy, but was held in place and then dragged over to the double bed on which Troy had just set his things.

Troy then moved to sit down on the bed and dragged Ryan down on his lap. Ryan tried to squirm out of his grip, but Troy being the athlete he is, was easily able to keep Ryan in place.

"Come on now, baby," Troy started. "We're just going to have a little fun before I have to go home to my wife."

Ryan laughed as he finally got the joke and then began to tickle Troy. "You think you're so funny, don't you?" Ryan asked as he pushed Troy back against the bed and continued to administer tickle-torture.

"You think every time you want something you can just flash that grin and the whole world will do your bidding, don't you?"

Troy was finally able to grip Ryan's wrists and pull them away from his body. With Ryan's balance thrown off, he fell forward until his face was just an inch away from Troy's.

"It works with you every time," Troy grinned as he lifted his head up and pressed his lips to Ryan's.

Ryan was immediately lost in the kiss. When he pulled away he muttered, "You ass," then went right back to devouring Troy's mouth.

Troy had just begin running his hands under Ryan's shirt, pulling him closer to his heated body, when he heard a not-so-discreet cough come from the doorway. Both he and Ryan jumped apart and spun toward the door. In all the commotion, Ryan once again lost his balance and fell from Troy's lap and onto the cold, linoleum floor.

"Um … hi," Troy said as he quickly stood from his bed and walked over to the guy who had just appeared in the doorway. He stopped a few feet from the guy and raised his arm until he was nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

"My name is Troy," he began awkwardly. Then turning around and pointing to Ryan who was now getting up off the floor and dusting himself off, "And this is Ryan, my boyfriend."

Ryan looked up from the imaginary lint he was dusting off and moved forward to where Troy was standing. "It's nice to meet you …" Ryan trailed off, leaving the perfect opportunity for the guy in the door to introduce himself.

"Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Jeff," the guy said as he extended his hand to Ryan. "It's nice to meet you as well."

Ryan looked over at Troy, who was still blushing and rubbing the back of his neck nervously, and decided that it was going to be up to him to get to know Troy's temporary roommate.

"So, are you planning on joining a fraternity, too?" Ryan asked.

"Uh, yeah." Jeff began. "My dad was a member of Chi Delta, so I'm pretty much obliged to join that house."

"Oh, well that's nice." Ryan said, then turned to Troy and gently elbowed his side. "Isn't it, Troy?"

"Oh … yeah … that's cool," Troy stuttered. "I don't really know what house I'm going to join."

Jeff nodded his head, then bent over to set down the bags he was carrying. "Well, I think I'm going to go get more stuff out of my car." With that, Jeff turned on his heels and walked back out of the room.

As soon as Ryan thought Jeff was out of earshot, he turned to Troy and lightly smacked him on the arm. "What the heck, Troy? Why didn't you say anything," Ryan asked hotly. "Why did you just leave it up to me to make small talk with your new roommate? Are you embarrassed of me?"

"What?" Troy gave his boyfriend an incredulous look. "Why would you ever think that?"

"Well, he did find us in the middle of a full-blown make out session, and then you dump me off your lap and hardly say two words to him the whole time he's here." Ryan explained, his hands moving wildly around. "Do you even remember what his name is?"

Troy looked down at his shoes and blushed and mumbled something could barely make out. Then he looked up into Ryan's eyes, "Look, I'm not ashamed of you. I just … it's …this was different from when Sharpay walked in on us in your bedroom. I don't even know this guy, and I have to live with him."

During the little speech, Ryan grabbed a hold of Troy's hand and held it tightly as his boyfriend continued.

"It's just that this isn't high school, and I don't know what to make of everything yet … and I just want to make a good impression, Ry. That's all," Troy finished, leaning his forehead against his boyfriend's.

"Oh, Troy," Ryan sighed. "I know what you mean. How about we start all over with Jeff when he comes back up here with more of his stuff?"

Troy chuckled, "I knew his name started with a J."

"Yeah, well, this time you can actually say something to him," Ryan said as he let go of Troy's hand and began making his way for the bed. "I'm going to sit here and read a magazine while you set your stuff up and get to know your roommate."

Troy laughed and went over to grab a box of his belongings that were sitting on a chair by his desk. Ryan gave him a swat on the butt as he walked past the bed. When Troy turned around to mock-glare at him, Ryan shot Troy a look that clearly said "you want to make something of it?"

He just laughed and started pulling clothes out of the box and putting them in his wardrobe unit.

When Jeff came back into the room, Troy was able to actually introduce himself and carry on a conversation. Ryan just smiled behind his magazine.

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About an hour later, Troy and Jeff were still putting things away, while Ryan sat on Troy's bed drinking a bottle of water and reading through "Entertainment Weekly," while what he had once described as a dump was beginning to look like an actual room — even though he would never admit it.

Troy and Ryan had helped Jeff get the rest of his belongings out of his car and up into the room, then Ryan had gone back to his magazine as Troy and Jeff had arranged and decorated their room — if you could call it that. Ryan thought there was more to decorating than throwing up a poster and hanging a calendar, but this wasn't his room. Troy would just have to prepare himself for when he actually moved in with Ryan — after college of course. At least that's what Ryan had told his parents.

Putting one last package of pens in his desk drawer, Jeff looked up and announced, "Well, it's about 5 p.m. I'm supposed to meet some of my high school friends for dinner. You're more than welcome to come if you want."

Troy was about to say something when Ryan interrupted him. "No, that's okay. We already have plans."

Jeff looked back at Troy and shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, I'll see you later, Troy." Then looking over at Ryan, "and it was nice to meet you, too, Ryan."

"Nice to meet you, too." Ryan said. "I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of each other. At least until you two join your own fraternities."

Jeff smiled and then walked out of the room.

"Why did you say that?" Troy asked. "It would have been cool to meet some new people."

"Well," Ryan began. "We could still go with Jeff if you want … or we could go back to my room," Ryan finished as he got off Troy's bed, that was now made with a deep blue bed spread. He gave Troy a coy look and continued.

"My roommate isn't supposed to be in until tomorrow evening, and when I went to get that bottle of water a little while ago, I ordered a pizza that should be delivered in about 20 minutes."

Ryan continued over to Troy until he was standing directly in front of him with a pouty look across his face. He sighed and began running his index finger over Troy's chest.

"So, we could go have dinner with Jeff and his friends, or we could go to my room, watch a movie and eat pizza, then … well, I'll let your imagination come up with the rest."

With that, Ryan turned around, bent over to grab his magazine and began walking out of the room in a way Troy was sure Ryan had perfected just to get him to look at his boyfriend's beautiful behind.

Really, the decision for Troy was a no-brainer. He grabbed a jacket out of his wardrobe and sped off after Ryan.


	2. Chapter 2

Ryan smiled as he woke from his very refreshing night's sleep. His head was pillowed against Troy's chest, which was probably his favorite place to wake up. 

He breathed in deeply as he reached up to rub the sleep from his eyes and then placed his hand just below his head on Troy's midsection. He started ghosting his fingers over his boyfriend's warm skin, knowing that the sensations would have him awake in just a few moments.

After just a few seconds, Troy began to stir. There was a deep intake of breath and then Ryan felt Troy's body stiffen slightly as he woke. The bed jostled slightly as Troy resituated himself. His hand nearly ran smack into Ryan's face when he lifted it to rub his nose.

"Sleep well, babe?" Ryan asked as he snuggled in closer to Troy. If he felt as delightfully sore as Ryan did, then he slept beautifully.

Troy's arm tightened around Ryan's waist and held him tightly to his body while rubbing his hand up and down Ryan's arm. "I always sleep well with you right next to me, baby," Troy said while stifling another yawn.

Ryan grinned and, in one fluid movement flipped himself from Troy's side to straddling his boyfriend's naked body with his own.

"Mmm … I'm surprised you were able to sleep at all," Ryan began in a slow, sultry voice. "Especially if you've been dealing with this little problem all night," he ended as he ground his lower body into Troy's morning erection.

Troy groaned. "You know, Ry, if you keep that up, I'm going to have to do some unmentionable things to you."

Ryan cracked a grin and leaned down to whisper into Troy's ear, "I'd like to see you try, big boy."

With a small roar, Troy was able to flip he and Ryan so that he was now positioned above his now prone boyfriend, with his hands pinning Ryan's arms above his head.

"I love it when you get all forceful and manly on me," Ryan said as she scrunched up his nose and leaned forward to peck Troy on the lips.

The two young men didn't leave the bed for quite some time, and when they finally made an appearance in the common areas of Ryan's dorm, the halls were abuzz with new students and their parents as they moved into their new home away from home.

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"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there," Ryan said as he moved away from the person he had just bumped into while trying to weave his way through the throngs of people going in and out of his residence hall.

"It's okay," the guy said. Then, as Ryan moved to make his way further down the hall, the person he had just bumped into spoke up. "But if you wouldn't mind … " he hollered after Ryan, "could you help me find my room?"

Ryan turned around and, after a second, nodded his head and held up his finger, indicating to the other boy to wait for just a second. Ryan jogged down the hall, quickly and returned with Troy in tow.

They stopped right in front of the mystery man Ryan had just left a few seconds earlier. "So, what room are you in?" Ryan asked.

"Well, I was supposed to be in a different hall to begin with, but then I got here and they told me I had a different room assignment and to take my stuff to this building," the boy said as he pulled a card from his pocket. He sounded extremely frazzled, and Ryan sympathized with him. After all, they were all starting something new, and most of the new students here had no idea what to expect.

"The resident director gave me this card with my new assignment, but I can't read the number," he said.

"Here, let me take a look at it," Ryan said as he extended his hand to the other boy.

The boy handed it to him and he looked over it quickly. The boy was right about one thing: the RD from the other building had horrible handwriting. After several seconds it dawned on Ryan what he was looking at, or more importantly, who he was talking to.

"Well," he began. "It looks like you're going to be my roommate," Ryan finished with a megawatt smile that seemed to calm the other boy down a little. "We're in room 334. My name is Ryan."

"I'm Kaden," he said as he extended his hand out to Ryan. "I'm so glad I ran into you."

"Yeah, well … ow! " Ryan was cut off as Troy, who had apparently been forgotten amid the commotion, elbowed him in the side.

"What?" Ryan asked as he turned to glare at his boyfriend. At the look that Troy gave him, he suddenly realized his rudeness. "I'm sorry," he started, turning back to Kaden, who was watching the interaction with a small smile on his face. "This is my boyfriend, Troy. He doesn't like to be left out of the conversation. He's kind of an attention whore."

"Am not!" Troy gasped as he wrapped his arms around Ryan and began to play-wrestle with him. Tickling soon became involved and the two were lost in their own world until someone cleared his throat.

Ryan looked up. "Oh, I'm sorry, Kaden," Ryan said as he blushed for once again getting caught up in his boyfriend in a public area. "How about we show you where our room is."

Kaden grinned and followed Ryan and Troy as they went up the two flights of stairs to their new home away from home.

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"Wow, this is a lot nicer than I thought it was going to be," Kaden said as he stepped through the door into his and Ryan's room.

The room was an oversized double in a newly remodeled residence hall. The furniture was all modular and moveable. The best part about this residence hall was that the bathrooms were semi-private. Each room had a bathroom that was shared with the room next door. Ryan had specifically requested one of these rooms because as far as he was concerned there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that he was going to share a bathroom with 40 or more people.

The floors were done in an off-white linoleum, with the walls being just a shade darker. Overall, the room looked fairly new, like it had been remodeled within the last few years, which was perfectly fine with Ryan. Some very important people would have been hearing about Ryan's discomfort otherwise.

There were two large windows on the east side of the room that looked out on a courtyard that lay between Ryan's residence hall, a dining center and a quad of residence halls just east of his building. The courtyard had several picnic tables situated on a cement patio and a large expanse of grass that would be perfect for sun bathing come the spring and summer months.

As Kaden continued looking around the room and out the windows, taking in his new home, Ryan moved over to his bed and started tidying up a bit.

"I already put my stuff into that bureau and I moved one of the desks closer to my bed," Ryan began. "But if you want to rearrange the room or something, I'm up for it."

Kaden took a look around the room, taking stock of where certain furniture was placed. "I think this will work out fine," he said. "I'll just move my bed against that wall and move my desk over by my bureau."

He paused for a moment, seemingly caught up in a thought. Then he turned to Ryan. "You know, if we got loft kits, we could raise our beds and fit a nice sized couch in here."

Ryan gave the idea some thought. It would definitely be nice to have a place to cuddle up with Troy during a romantic evening other than his bed.

"Sounds good to me," he said with an excited look on his face. "I bet they have some downstairs in the main office."

"Yeah!" Kaden agreed. "And then all we have to do is go to Goodwill or the Salvation Army and we can get a cheap couch. It'll be great." It seemed that Ryan's excitement over the whole ordeal was catching, and the two continued to chatter on about different arrangements and decorating for their humble abode.

Troy smiled as his boyfriend and his new roommate got to know one another. He looked around the room and tried to imagine just what Ryan and Kaden had in store for this poor room. His gaze lingered on Ryan's desk where a box of opened condoms was lying.

His eyes widened. He knew that Kaden didn't seem to be freaked out about Ryan having a boyfriend, or by the fact that Troy was said boyfriend, but he didn't know how understanding he would be if he knew that he and Ryan had "christened" the room before he had even arrived.

Troy made his way quickly over to his boyfriend's desk and quickly opened up the side drawer and shoved the box in, while shoving the drawer closed quickly. In his rush to hide the evidence of his and Ryan's passion, however, Troy didn't move his hand fast enough and smashed his middle and index fingers between the desk and drawer.

Both Ryan and Kaden jumped at the loud expletive that came rushing out of Troy's mouth. Ryan turned quickly to find Troy with two of his fingers in his mouth. He couldn't help but give his boyfriend a confused look as he walked across the room to see what was the matter.

"What did you do, babe?" Ryan asked, his voice filled with concern.

"Ithmasthedmyfingas," Troy tried to say around the fingers in his mouth.

"What?" Ryan asked with a chuckle. This was just too good.

Troy then removed the fingers he was nursing from his mouth and said, "I smashed my fingers in your desk drawer."

Ryan grabbed a hold of the injured limb, and gave it a once-over. "Well, it looks like everything is still there." He then pulled Troy's hand up to his lips and gave it a feather-like kiss.

"There, all better?" Ryan asked. "What were you doing in my desk anyway?"

Troy blushed, and looked glanced over at Kaden who was watching curiously, probably wondering what exactly Troy had done that had caused him to curse so loudly.

"I … uh … I had to put something away," Troy stuttered out quietly, as he motioned at the drawer in question.

Ryan gave his boyfriend another confused look and the moved his hand to open pull out his desk drawer.

As soon as the box of condoms came into view, Ryan knew what Troy had been doing. He slammed the drawer quickly, although he was able to avoid the whole finger-smashing situation.

Kaden furrowed his brow and asked, "What's going on over there?"

"Oh nothing," Ryan replied a little to hastily, earning another confused look from his new roommate. "Troy was just putting something away and he smashed his fingers in the desk."

Ryan just waved Troy off, "He's kind of a klutz most of the time."

Troy gave his boyfriend a look, that clearly said he was not amused, but Ryan just went back to work with Kaden.

After a few minutes, Ryan turned back to Troy. "Why don't you come with me downstairs to get the loft kits from the RA that's on duty, then you can help me raise my bed."

Troy looked at Ryan and raised an eyebrow. "Why would you want my help? I'm a klutz, remember?"

Ryan shook his head and walked over to Troy. "If you love me, you'll help me." Then with a dramatic sigh, he leaned into Troy and began doing the famous finger walk across the chest that usually led to Troy doing anything Ryan desired.

"Besides," Ryan began in a sultry voice. "I can make it worth your while later."

No sooner had the words been uttered than Troy was dragging Ryan out of the room and down to the main lobby.

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About an hour later, found a shirtless Troy tightening one last bolt in the bed's loft kit. Who knew it could be such work raising a bed? Ryan sure wasn't complaining about the view, however.

"Well," Troy began as he gave the bolt one last turn. "It looks like we're finished here." He turned around to look at Ryan, showing off his work.

"Thanks babe," Ryan began. "God knows I enjoyed the view during this little remodel." He smiled in appreciation and looked Troy up and down, as if appraising a new car.

"And as much as I like to keep you around with as little clothing as possible, I think you should take a shower," he continued as he rummaged around in a drawer in his bureau. He ultimately found what he was looking for and threw an oversized blue towel at Troy.

"Go get cleaned up and then we can go to dinner."

Troy was halfway to the bathroom when he turned around. "But I don't have a change of clothes, and your clothes, while very nice and attractive on you, could never fit me."

Ryan laughed as he imagined Troy in one of his skintight shirts. It was true, Troy was a bit bigger than Ryan's petit frame, and he'd rather not have Troy rip through one of his shirts.

"Well, then it's a good thing that I brought all the clothes you left in my room back home just for times like these," Ryan said with another smirk as he produced a pair of Troy's khaki shorts and a green t-shirt.

"Now, go take a shower," Ryan began. "And after dinner we can go to that carnival they're throwing in the quad. I'll ask if Kaden wants to come with us, and when you're done, you can see if Jeff wants to come, too."

"Sounds good," Troy said as he walked over to the bathroom.

When he reached the bathroom door, Troy turned around and jogged over to Ryan, bent over and gave him a quick kiss, then turned around and jogged back into the bathroom.

Ryan couldn't help but laugh at his boyfriend's wiles, as he heard the shower turn on.


	3. Chapter 3

Walking into the dining center on campus was a lot different than walking into the cafeteria at high school. It actually looked more like a food court one might find at the mall than the dull, dingy open space that most were used to when it came to school dining.

Ryan looked around the dining center trying to find something that might whet his appetite while Troy seemed to have zeroed in on what he was going to have for dinner.

"Come on, Ry," Troy said while tugging on his arm. "Let's go to that burger joint over there."

"I don't know," Ryan said hesitantly. "I really don't feel like a burger. I think I might go get some soup and salad from the deli."

"Gotta watch your girlish figure, huh?" Troy added as he reached over and lightly tickled Ryan's side.

Ryan quickly slapped the offending hand away and turned to face Troy. He raised an eyebrow and gave Troy's body a "once over" before saying, "Well, it looks to me like someone else might want to be watching his figure as well."

Then he poked his boyfriend in the stomach.

"Why you little …" Troy trailed off as he made a grab for Ryan. The blonde was too quick for his boyfriend and was able to evade his grip. He stood there grinning at Troy and bouncing from foot to foot.

"What? You're moving a little slow. Are you sure you want to get that burger for diner?" Ryan asked as he waggled his eyebrow.

Troy straightened himself and with an air of superiority said, "I'll have you know that I am in top shape. And I could still whoop your butt on the court any day."

"Yeah, and so could Sharpay," Ryan said as he stopped bouncing. "What's your point?"

Then, from out of the blue and with cat-like agility, Troy made his move. He grabbed Ryan around his waist and brought him close, securing his hold on the smaller boy with his other arm.

"My point, darling," Troy began in a near whisper, "is that I want a cheeseburger, and even though you're going to get soup and salad, I know you're going to eat half of my fries."

Ryan blushed a little and rolled his eyes.

"Fine, you know my little secret. Go get your burger and I'll meet you at a table in a few minutes."

Troy gave his boyfriend one last squeeze before he bounded off to his restaurant of choice. Ryan shook his head and chuckled to himself quietly as he made his way to the salad bar.

After putting together what he thought was a fantastic salad, Ryan moved his tray over to the soup pots. He looked at the labels and opened one of the lids. The smell that greeted him was anything but palatable and he dropped the lid back onto the pot.

'Note to self,' Ryan thought. 'Stay away from the black bean gumbo.'

He eventually found a soup that looked good enough, served himself up and grabbed a brownie for Troy.

As he was walking to the cashier, someone bumped into him, causing his soup to slosh around in the bowl and spill out a little onto his tray.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said a voice. Ryan turned around to see who had bumped into him and came face to face with someone who looked vaguely familiar.

"Hey, you were in my orientation group over the summer, weren't you?" asked the boy.

Ryan gave a once-over to the person who claimed to know him. There was something familiar about him, but he couldn't seem to place it. He was tall. Taller than Troy, maybe 6 ft. 3 in, he had short dark brown hair and looked like a swimmer.

"Um … I'm not sure," Ryan said. When he saw a disappointed look cross the boy's face he added. "It's okay, though. I'm awful with names and remembering anyone."

"It's cool," the boy said. "I just remember you saying you had a boyfriend that was coming here, too. It's funny that we ran into each other again. Even if you don't remember me."

Ryan laughed a little and then tried to extend his had to shake his companion's but realized he was still holding onto his meal tray.

"Well, I'd shake your hand, but," Ryan trailed off gesturing to his tray with his eyes.

"Oh it's fine," the boy said. "I'm Jordan, by the way. I'm living in West Hall."

"Me, too," Ryan said. "Well, maybe I'll run into you again soon. But I better go meet my boyfriend. He's probably already finished with dinner."

"Okay, Ryan," Jordan said as he turned to walk in the other direction. "I'll see you around."

Ryan quickly paid for his meal and walked out into the dining area to find Troy sitting at a booth already half way through his hamburger.

"Nice to see you waited for me," Ryan said as he walked up to the booth. Placing his tray on the opposite side of the table, he scooted in and placed a napkin in his lap

He lightly peppered his salad and then dug in. A few minutes later, he could tell that Troy was eyeing something on his tray.

Ryan looked up and caught Troy's gaze. "Is there something you wanted?"

"Well, uh, I was just wondering if you had gotten that brownie for me," Troy asked as kept eyeing what looked to be an incredibly moist treat.

"You know," Ryan began as he picked up the confection. "I was going to let you have it, but seeing as how you were so rude and almost finished your meal before I even got here, I might just have to eat it myself."

Ryan then trailed a finger through the chocolate frosting and brought it up to his mouth. He stuck out his tongue and swirled it around the chocolaty-sweet frosting, then stuck his finger in his mouth to clean it off.

"Mmm …" Ryan softly moaned.

Troy could only watch slack-jawed as his boyfriend sensually cleaned his finger of any evidence of frosting.

"You're evil, Ryan," Troy stated breathily. "Pure evil."

"I know. And that's why you love me." Ryan continued as he drug another hand through the frosting.

Before even he knew what he was doing, Troy had grabbed a hold of Ryan's arm and brought the finger to his mouth, doing the exact same thing Ryan had just been teasing Troy with.

Ryan groaned ever so softly as his finger slipped out of Troy's mouth. "You sure know how to get what you want."

"That I do," Troy replied. "How else do you think I would have been able to get you? If I remember correctly, you were a hard catch. Always trying to avoid me, making Sharpay talk to me instead of you. Thank goodness I'm committed."

"Hey, you can't blame me for that," Ryan whined. "How was I supposed to know that you weren't just playing a practical joke on me?"

Troy's smile faded, "You really thought I'd do something like that to you? I mean, I know we weren't the closest of friends, but I didn't think you thought so little of me."

Ryan immediately felt bad for making Troy feel that way. He got up and moved to the other side of the booth to sit next to his boyfriend.

"Oh, baby," Ryan began, grabbing a hold of Troy's hand. "You know I love you so much. I was just nervous back then. I didn't know what to think of anything."

He leaned in to get a closer look at Troy's expression and rubbed his nose softly against the brunette's cheek.

"I know," Troy said softly.

"Good," Ryan smiled as he pecked Troy softly on the lips. "Now, eat your brownie before I finish all the frosting."

Ryan got up and moved back to the other side of the table, but not before snatching up a few of Troy's fries.

"See," Troy said victoriously, "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist the fries. They get you every time, Mr. I'm-too-good-for-fried-foods."

"Oh shut up," Ryan said indignantly. "Finish your food and then we'll go to the carnival."

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Ryan and Troy walked through the main quad on campus, hand in hand, looking at all of the different booths and games available. There were students everywhere either standing in small groups talking, playing a game, or watching the live band play on the stage by the student union.

"Wow," Troy exclaimed. "What should we do first?"

"I don't know," Ryan said as he continued taking in all the sights. "You want to try that inflatable thing over there?"

Tory looked across the quad to a large inflatable … thing. Students were strapped into a Velcro/bungee kind of harness and then began running along the contraption with a swatch of fabric to see who could go the furthest before being pulled back by the bungee cord.

The winner would go up against the next person and continue until he or she lost. By the looks of it, the same person had been winning for quite a while.

As Troy and Ryan got closer and closer to the contraption, they could tell that the current champion was beginning to be a little more prideful than decorum would normally allow. He had removed his shirt and was taunting anyone who looked like they might be challenging him.

Ryan didn't think much of it and went up to the inflatable monstrosity, removed his shoes and started putting on the Velcro/bungee vest.

"Oh, looks like I've got a new, little freshman coming to challenge me," the guy on the contraption was taunting. "Don't try too hard, little freshman. We don't want you to hurt yourself."

Ryan rolled his eyes and got up on the big balloon of a game. He braced himself and waited for the person running the game to give them the go-ahead.

When the student off to the side shouted for Ryan and the other guy to start running, Ryan started with full force, but soon found himself straining against the tension in the bungee cord. The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back.

"Oh no, it looks like the little freshman didn't know what he had in store for him," the other guy taunted. "Better luck next time."

Ryan frowned as he got up and off the inflatable runway and slipped his shoes back on. He twisted his back to make sure everything was still in working order and then began walking back to Troy.

"Well, that was an experience," Ryan said as he stood in front of his boyfriend. "It would have been fun if it weren't for that jerk up there."

Troy wrapped an arm around Ryan's waist and put a mock serious expression on his face, then in his best gangster imitation voice he asked, "You want I should mess the fool up for you?"

"Oh, please," Ryan laughed as he leaned his head on Troy's shoulder.

"Oh look," the booming voice of the Neanderthal who claimed to be a student exclaimed as he caught sight of Ryan and Troy. "It looks like the little freshman had to go be comforted by his little boyfriend."

By this time, most people passing this part of the quad were either not paying attention to the man on the game because they knew what he was up to, or were shooting him angry glares for being such an ass to everyone else.

Troy sighed and shook his head. Apparently even at an institution of higher education, you could still be confronted with people who had no scope of life outside of their limited beliefs.

"I'm gonna go teach this guy a lesson," Troy said as he let go of Ryan's waist.

"Troy, no. It's not worth it. Just leave it alone," Ryan said as he grabbed a hold of Troy's arm.

"I'll be fine. I'm just going to show him what an ass he's making of himself," Troy said, shaking off Ryan's hold on his arm.

Troy walked up to the inflatable runway and looked at the guy without saying anything. He quietly slipped off his shoes and then turned around to face everyone who was either watching or passing by.

Then, with a great amount of flare, Troy yelled and ripped off his shirt. He flexed and then pointed to the guy who was still standing on the runway. He strapped himself into the vest and then jumped up on the contraption.

The taunter was looking a little perplexed, and most of the students walking past had stopped to see what was going on.

Troy then positioned himself and waited for the person in charge to tell them to start. Once the signal had been given, Troy watched as the guy next to him took off and ran as hard as he could, trying to go farther than he had gone all night. He watched as the guy tired himself out and then collapsed on the runway. Troy then unstrapped himself from the vest and walked down the runway until he was standing next to the panting boy who had been taunting everyone.

He then bent over and stuck the swatch of Velcroed fabric in the guy's hair. Troy then turned around to find that most people were laughing at his antics. He looked around the crowd and found that Ryan, too, was shaking his head in mirth.

Troy walked off the inflatable runway and slipped his shoes back on before walking over to Ryan.

"Oh, Troy," Ryan exclaimed over-dramatically. "My knight in shining armor."

Then after giving Troy another look he added, "Well, I guess you have no armor, seeing as how it's lying in pieces over there."

"Yeah, well, you like me better this way," Troy said as he moved closer to Ryan.

"I'd like you even better like this all to myself," Ryan whispered huskily into his boyfriend's ear.

"You know, that can be arranged," Troy said.

And with that, he picked Ryan up and flung him over his shoulder and began making his way back to his dorm room.


	4. Chapter 4

Troy gently lay Ryan down on his bed and looked at him with concern as he sat down next to his boyfriend.

While the night may have appeared to be all in fun and games, with Troy having the last laugh at the expense of an overbearing homophobe, Troy knew how Ryan could dwell on these types of situations.

Ryan presented a good front to the world, but he, just like anyone else, only desired to be accepted. Something like this had happened before, and it would more than likely happen again. It was Troy's job to make sure that his boyfriend remembered that the old adage was indeed true: Those who matter, don't mind; Those who mind, don't matter.

"Are you okay, Ry?" Troy asked as he brushed the fringe of Ryan's hair out of his face.

Ryan smiled back weakly and leaned into Troy's touch — a major change from the laughing Ryan who had, only minutes before, been tossed over a shirtless Troy's shoulder.

"You know," Ryan began softly, "We had it really good back home. Our families were accepting; our friends never questioned what we did. I mean, sure we'd get some looks if we went outside our, you know, our immediate area …" Ryan trailed off as he motioned his hands to indicate an abstract idea he couldn't quite put into words.

He shifted his body so that he could comfortably rest his head in Troy's lap, then began again. "I just thought that we wouldn't have to deal with anything like this … at least not so soon, anyway."

Troy kept smoothing Ryan's hair over the nape of his neck as his boyfriend let out his frustration. Although there was no sound to indicate such an action, Troy knew that tears were currently making tracks down his boyfriend's perfect face.

"Ry," Troy began as he nudged Ryan softly to look up at him. "You know we can't judge the entire school just because of one jerk with a big mouth."

He fell silent for a long moment as his hands drifted from Ryan's neck down to the sides of his body, trying to sooth his boyfriend with a simple touch.

"I mean, think about it," Troy began again, "Look at our roommates. Both of them are great. They know that we're together, and as far as I can tell, they have absolutely no problem with it.

"Jeff thinks you're great, and Kaden, well, you two are pretty much the same person. You just have to give people a chance and they'll come to love you almost as much as I do."

"Almost?" Ryan questioned, humor shining in his eyes.

"Well, they could love you as much as I do, but if they act on it, we're going to have a problem," Troy answered back as he leaned over to place a kiss on his boyfriend's forehead.

Ryan reveled in his boyfriend's attention and shifted so that their lips could meet. What started out languid and simple, soon turned heated and complex. Ryan pulled away from Troy and looked at him, putting all the emotion he could into his expression.

"I love you so much, Troy. I don't know what I'd do without you." Ryan choked out, then turned away.

Troy frowned and reached out to turn Ryan's face back toward him. "Ryan, look at me — look" he began as Ryan's eyes finally landed back on his countenance. "You will never have to worry about that. Ever.

"I will never leave your side. I will always be there for you. Always."

Ryan's face crumpled. This was all just too much. First, the jerk in the quad, now the emotional weight of his and Troy's confessions. He just needed something to ground him.

"Troy," Ryan breathed out. "I need you. I want you."

"You …" Troy started, but was cut off.

"I want you right now, Troy. I need you. Please."

Ryan had already began moving his hands across his boyfriend's body, thankful that his shirt was already missing.

Troy soon became lost in the sensations Ryan was creating and began repositioning himself to grant him better access. In the coming hours, Troy would give his boyfriend exactly what he said he needed: proof that he would always be there.

--------------------------------

Ryan was jostled awake the next morning as Troy jumped on the bed they had both fallen asleep on last night. Ryan cracked an eye and smiled as the face of his boyfriend peered down upon him.

"Morning, sleepyhead." Troy said before he leaned down and placed a quick kiss on his boyfriend's nose.

Troy, it appeared, was already dressed and ready for the day, while Ryan was still rather nude from their activities the previous evening.

"I thought we could go to the bookstore today since, you know, classes start tomorrow and we haven't yet bought our text books," Troy said as he moved from his position over Ryan to a sitting one next to him.

Ryan thought over Troy's proposition, but couldn't get his mind off the fact that he was still nude. Troy always said he could never resist Ryan's body and, Ryan, feeling as adventurous as he was, decided he wanted to see if that was true.

"We could do that … I guess," Ryan began, "or we could, I don't know, find something else to do around here."

Troy looked around the room quickly and began to protest, but was stopped cold once Ryan had thrown the comforter off to reveal his very naked, and very aroused, body. Troy couldn't help but stare at what he considered to be the most beautiful sight in the world. He forgot why he had been apprehensive to begin with and was caught up completely in Ryan's seduction of him.

The next thing he knew, Ryan's lips were on his and he was being pulled down on top of Ryan's naked form. He didn't even register the door to the room opening or the footsteps on the linoleum floor.

Troy's head did snap around, however, as the sound of a not-so-discreet cough brought him back from his lust-induced haze.

Ryan, on the other hand, still hadn't caught on to the fact that they now had an audience and was only concerned that he no longer felt Troy's lips on his own. It was only when he actually opened his eyes that he noticed that his boyfriend's complete attention was not on him. In fact, he was staring across the room.

Ryan turned his head to see what captured Troy's attention and met the gaze of Jeff, who had a surprised expression across his face.

Ryan froze. Could he possibly be more embarrassed? Then, in a rush, he realized that Jeff was getting a view of everything that was only meant for one other person. He began struggling underneath Troy, trying in vain to cover his modesty.

"Troy," Ryan began, "unless you want me flashing my business to everyone who walks through that door, you have to let me pull the covers back."

Troy looked down then blushed furiously as he made a move to block Ryan from his roommate.

"I'm so sorry, Jeff," Troy said. "I knew you were coming back … and then … but I couldn't … I don't even … I'm sorry," he finished lamely with his hand reaching behind to grasp at his neck, giving a self-depreciating smile.

"Well, it's definitely not something I was expecting, but … to each his own, right?" Jeff chuckled lightly, then sat down at his desk, facing away from Ryan in order to give the two young men some privacy.

Ryan, now covered by Troy's comforter, reached down to the floor to grab his underwear and t-shirt. Slipping those on, he motioned for Troy to grab his shorts that were laying over by the bureau.

Now, having regained all of his modesty, Ryan tried getting back some of the dignity he had lost a few short moments ago. He cleared his throat and Jeff turned around. Ryan looked down and blushed as they made eye contact, but then took a breath and looked back up.

"We really are sorry. I should have known not to do anything like that. I mean, it's your room, not mine. I hope this doesn't change anything," Ryan trailed off.

Jeff just smiled back and shook his head. "Nah, it's all good," Jeff began. "Besides, now I know why Troy is so eager to go off with you most of the time."

Ryan blushed even harder, if that was possible, and Troy placed an arm around his waist.

"Now, I believe Troy was going to talk to you about going to the bookstore today?" Jeff said as he began taking their conversation in a different direction.

"I guess that would be a good idea," Ryan said as he smiled and leaned against Troy. You never could tell how someone was going to react in a given situation, and Jeff had just given Ryan a reason to disregard what had happened the previous night. Apparently, he and Troy had an exceptionally good friend in Jeff.

-----------------------------

"How did my textbooks cost over $400 and you got out with only $125?" Troy complained as he fell into the seat next to Ryan.

After spending about an 10 minutes finding the books they needed and another 40 minutes in line to pay for them, Troy decided that it was time for lunch. He offered to pay for Jeff's as a kind of apology for what had happened earlier that morning. As a college student, Jeff was not going to turn down a free meal, which brought the three new students to the dining center inside the student union.

"Well, let's see," Ryan started, "I'm an English major. I buy novels. They usually cost about $8. You are a science major. Your textbooks cost about a million dollars. Do the math."

Jeff chuckled at the interplay between the two young men. He had to admit that while Ryan was definitely the more shy of the two, he definitely came out of his shell around Troy … and it was fun to watch the banter the two came up with at every new experience.

Ryan had just come back with three orders from Panda Express and set them down on the table as he made his comment to Troy. He sat down next to his boyfriend and passed him his plate. He then passed Jeff his and they all tucked in for a nice meal.

Not much talking occurred during lunch, but hey, could you expect anything different from a group of college boys?

When he was almost finished with his meal, Ryan looked up and spotted Kaden walking through the food court. He wiped his mouth and waved his roommate over.

"Hey, Ryan," Kaden said as he walked up to the table. He looked from Ryan to Troy and over to Jeff, whom he hadn't yet met. He pulled out the only seat left and sat down next to Troy's roommate.

"Hi, my name's Kaden. I'm Ryan's roommate," he said as he stuck his hand out to Jeff, who had apparently forgot to swallow his food. Jeff stuck his hand out to shake Kaden's but still nothing came out of his mouth.

Ryan smiled to himself, he knew what was happening, even if no one else at the table did. When it became apparent that Jeff had lost all ability to speak, Ryan piped up, "His name is Jeff. He's Troy's roommate … and usually a very gifted speaker."

Jeff finally regained some of his composure and mumbled out what sounded like a 'nice to meet you.'

Kaden smiled and turned back to Ryan. "Well, I was just heading back to the room, you want to come with?"

"Sure," Ryan said. "I just got finished buying my textbooks. I should probably head back and get some things ready before classes start tomorrow."

Ryan reached down and grabbed his bags, but when he noticed Troy was getting his things, he made a decision.

"Troy, why don't you head back with Jeff to your room. You need to get ready for classes, too. And then you can get to know your roommate a little better."

Troy just looked at Ryan for a second, trying to figure out if he was being serious. Once he concluded that his boyfriend was, indeed, telling him to stay behind, he put his tray and bags back down.

Ryan immediately noticed the somewhat dejected look in Troy's face and leaned down to whisper to his boyfriend.

"I'll call you later and we'll go get dinner, okay? Besides, we have to get used to not being with each other all day every day."

"Okay," Troy whispered back.

"Good, I'll talk to you later," Ryan said as he leaned in a little further to brush a kiss to Troy's cheek.

Troy sat and watched as Ryan and Kaden walked out of the food court. He knew Ryan was right, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He would call Ryan later and they would go to dinner, but he knew better than to think he would be sleeping in the same bed as his boyfriend tonight.

It was something that Troy had gotten used to in the few days they had been at school, and he was going to miss it.


	5. Chapter 5

Troy sighed and slumped down in his seat as he watched Ryan walk away and out of his line of sight. He wasn't used to being without his boyfriend since they arrived on campus. Granted, it had only been three days … but still. There was something to say about finding oneself in the unknown with only your boyfriend to guide you.

He had just about finished playing with his pan-fried noodles and was ready to get up when he noticed that Jeff was still kind of off in his own dream world. Troy glanced around to make sure Jeff wasn't staring at anything, then quickly waved a hand in front of his roommate's face. When Jeff still made no movement or recognition of Troy practically making a fool of himself, it finally dawned on him. Someone had a crush.

When Troy thought about it for a second, he could see why. Kaden was quite a looker. Standing just a little taller than Ryan and having about the same build, Kaden was the envy of many men and desired by many women. And that didn't even take into account his healthy tan and sparsely highlighted shaggy blond hair — he looked like he should be carrying a surfboard around with him. It was probably safe to say that Kaden was a wet dream to many.

And Jeff, well, Jeff was nothing to scoff at. He was a little shorter than Troy, pale smooth skin and dark brown hair. He was like a sexier version of Zack Braff, with a smaller nose.

It was cute, almost as cute as Ryan. Be that as it may, Troy was still ready to leave the dining center. So, in order to get Jeff's attention Tory cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled: "JEFF!"

That finally seemed to snap Jeff out of his reverie … and about half of the people in the dining center. Jeff's cheeks tinged red as he realized Troy had been trying to get his attention.

"Finally," Troy said. "I've only been trying to get you to notice me for the past five minutes."

"Sorry," Jeff responded. "I was … preoccupied."

"Yeah, preoccupied," Troy snorted as he rolled his eyes. "I'm usually preoccupied on Ryan, too. But you, my friend, were totally lost in a dream world over someone you just met."

"What?!" Jeff yelped. "What are you talking about?" Troy just chuckled to himself. Boys were so stupid sometimes.

Troy folded his arms on the table and then leaned closer to Jeff to whisper conspiratorially, "You, Jeff, have a little crushy-crush on my boyfriend's roommate."

Jeff's eyes widened comically as Troy stated his theory. Then started to laugh uncomfortably as he shook his head. "No, I don't. I … I like girls, Troy. A-and how could you even think I would have a crush on someone I just met?"

Troy sighed again. Sometimes boys really, _really_ were stupid. But he'd play along with Jeff for now.

"Whatever," Troy said as he began to pile all of his stuff on his tray, finally getting ready to leave. "I'm just telling you what it looked like."

He pushed his chair back and got up from the table, "Now, if you are ready to leave, I have some things I need to get finished."

And with that, Troy and Jeff made their way out of the noisy dining hall. One thinking about how he had a few hours to kill before he could be reunited with his boyfriend. The other thinking about how he'd definitely like to get to know a certain tanned someone a lot better.

----------------------------------

"… That's all I'm saying," Ryan said as he pushed the door open and stepped into his and Kaden's room.

"Look," Kaden began. "I get what you say you saw, but even if you saw what you said you did, how do you know it meant what you think it does?"

Ryan looked back confusedly as Kaden waited expectantly. "What did you even just say?"

"I don't know," Kaden said with a chuckle. "But I seriously don't see things the way you did … not that I'm saying it's not possible," Kaden continued as he saw Ryan ready to rebut once again, "I just didn't see it."

"Trust me," Ryan said with confidence, "I know that look when I see it."

"Oh yeah," Kaden said as he rolled his eyes, "Just because Troy gives you that same look about every 10 minutes doesn't mean you know when someone else is getting it."

"Hey, once you get intimately familiar with something, it's easy to recognize it anywhere," Ryan said.

Kaden contemplated what his roommate had just said for several moments, and then asked a question that he was surprised hadn't come up sooner: "Hey, Ry," He began. "Exactly how did you and Troy get together anyway?"

"Oh gosh," Ryan began as his eyes took on a somewhat glazed appearance. "I've had a crush on Troy since as long as I can remember. From the moment I saw him, I knew he was special."

Ryan set his things on his desk before moving over to his bed. Kaden got the hint: this was going to be a story. So, he, too, got on his bed and waited for Ryan to start.

Ryan scooted on his bed until his back was resting against the wall. He absently grabbed for a shirt that Troy had left in the room and brought it into his lap, fiddling with the collar.

"Well, like I said," Ryan began again, now comfortable. "I've had a crush on Troy since … well, forever."

Kaden chuckled, it was easy to see that the two were smitten with each other, but the way Ryan was beginning, one would have thought he was starting an epic romance.

"I never really considered it a possibility that Troy would ever like me back, though, you know?" As Kaden nodded, Ryan continued. "I was always in my sister's shadow, and then this new girl transferred to our high school — that's when I thought I really didn't stand a chance. But then Troy auditioned for this musical, which surprised everyone, and we worked together on it …"

"And then you discovered your undying love and lived happily ever after?" Kaden interrupted, throwing in, what he was sure was the end of this fairytale story.

"Actually, I wouldn't even say we became really good friends after that; he just knew I existed is all," Ryan said as he sighed, reliving memories of high school. "We really didn't even start talking until the summer after that school year, and then it was mostly because my sister was on some rampage trying to get Troy and win some competition."

"Sounds like you've got one heck of a sister," Kaden said as he laughed, picturing a more ferocious, female version of Ryan.

"Oh, Sharpay?" Ryan grinned. "Yeah, she's a handful sometimes, but she tries. And I love her. You know how it is."

"Well, I'm an only child," Kaden said. "So, I don't really know, but that's unimportant. Back to your story."

"Okay, so, after that talent show thing, I thought for sure that Gabby and Troy would be together forever, but apparently I was dead wrong. They broke up about a week after, but they never really did say why," Ryan said, then giggled as he thought to himself, "Not that it isn't obvious now.

"Troy and Gabby stayed friends after that, and soon Troy started talking to me a lot more at the country club and then asking me to hang out after he got off work. By the end of the summer, we were dating," Ryan finished with a wistful sigh.

"Did you both come out as soon as you started dating?" Kaden asked.

"No," Ryan replied. "Not as soon as we started, but it didn't take long for everyone to notice something different. It wasn't really a big deal when we did, which surprised the heck out of me.

"But enough about me," Ryan said as he sat up straighter. "What about you? I know you're not seeing anyone now, but what about high school? Tell me everything."

By the end of his little transition, Ryan had shifted from sitting to laying across his bed on his stomach. Kaden knew he wasn't going to get out of telling his story, so he just began.

"Well, I grew up near Portland, and you know how things are up there," Kaden started. "Crazy doesn't even begin to describe things. I love it up there."

"Wait," Ryan interrupted. "You mean to tell me that you grew up in rainy old Oregon and still have a tan like that? You look like you belong on a beach in California."

Kaden just rolled his eyes. "It's called the summer, Ryan. Contrary to popular belief, it does more than just rain in Oregon."

"Whatever, surfer boy," Ryan laughed as he threw his pillow across the room at Kaden, hitting him in the chest.

"Anyway, my family pretty much belongs up there," Kaden continued. "They're like hippies, but not, you know? They bathe and stuff, but they're really open to pretty much anything and everything.

"I had a few girlfriends throughout high school, but my longest relationship was with a guy named Mike," Kaden said, but then frowned as if reliving a not-so-pleasant memory. "He was really sweet, but then turned into a huge douche bag.

"I dated him for almost a year, but I didn't tell my parents about it. Even though they claimed to understand almost anything, it was still weird bringing a boy home and telling them that I was dating him."

Ryan had is chin propped on his hand as he listened to his roommate's story. He could identify with the feeling of not knowing how the most important people in your life would react to something so important. He and his roommate and so much more in common than he originally thought. It was nice to find out that he had someone besides Tory to whom he could talk to about these kinds of things, not that anyone could ever take Troy's place.

Kaden continued: "I just remember coming home one day in tears and blurting out everything to my mom. It was horrifying once I had finished talking. I didn't know what to expect," Kaden shivered at the thought of uncertainty that had crept through his entire being that day.

"My mom was shocked," Kaden laughed. "And I guess she had good reason to be. I mean, the only relationships I had been in up to that point were with girls. But everything went well. My mom threatened bodily harm on Mike if he ever darkened our doorstep again, just like any mom would do, I guess."

Ryan laughed. It was true. Moms, and in his case, sisters, would do almost anything to protect those they loved.

The two roommates passed several more hours by getting to know each other as they prepared for the start of classes the next day, each telling as many embarrassing stories about one another as possible. Ah, bonding.

-----------------------------

Troy clicked the mouse to close the game he was playing. He had already printed out a copy of his schedule, put everything for tomorrow in his bag and he even laid out what he was going to wear. There was nothing else he could do to make the time go faster until he went to dinner with Ryan. Who knew his life could be so boring.

He finally pushed his chair away from his desk and made to get up. He looked across the room and saw Jeff lying on his bed reading a magazine, caught up in his own world. Troy continued to walk over to his bed, then unceremoniously threw himself down on top of it. He let out a rather loud sigh, and Jeff looked up from his magazine briefly before returning his attention to something about punk rock.

Troy, noticing the slight attention that got him, let out another large sigh. This time, however, there was no reaction. Well, he wouldn't give up that easily. This time his sigh was not only loud, but it was also dragged out and accompanied by a rather interesting feat of bed acrobatics.

Jeff looked up from his magazine with a raised eyebrow, "Is there something you needed, or do you just enjoy seeing how many ways there are for you to breathe deeply?"

"I'm bored," Troy whined.

"Did you try …" Jeff started.

Troy interrupted before Jeff even had a chance to finish the question. "I've done everything I could possibly think of, and I can't call Ryan. He wanted time with Kaden," Troy finished with a kind of bitter edge to his voice.

"Do I detect a little bit of jealousy in your voice?" Jeff smirked.

"I'm not jealous of anyone," Troy said indignantly. "I just don't know why Ryan wanted to spend time apart this afternoon. I mean, classes are going to start tomorrow, and then there's rush and all that stuff. How much time are we actually going to get to spend with each other?"

Jeff just shook his head. "You two are really hung up on each other, aren't you?"

Troy looked down at his bedspread and toyed with one of the fraying edges of his well-worn blanket. Then he looked up, "He's everything I've ever wanted."

Jeff was just a bit stunned by his roommate's admission. He was expecting something like blushing and a stammered denial. He wasn't really counting on such an honest answer, and definitely not one with as much confidence as Troy had just displayed.

The silent moment soon became a little too awkward for Troy and he spoke up. "I know, a lot of people say that we're too young to know something like that, especially since we're both guys, but it's what I feel. I love him, and I'll never love anyone as much as I do him."

"That's … deep," Jeff said softly. "When did you know?"

After a few seconds of contemplation, Troy answered, "I think it was when we were applying for colleges that I finally realized it."

It didn't look like Troy was going to say anything else about it, so Jeff prodded a bit more. He was all about Troy talking more and sighing less, and if this is how he achieved the goal, then so be it.

"And?" Jeff asked. "Come on, throw me a bone here. What led you to this realization? It's called bonding, and we can't do it unless we talk about stuff … feelings, you know, girly stuff."

Troy laughed and moved to the edge of his bed so that his feet were now on the floor, but he leaned back so he was propped up on his bed by his arms. "Well, we were applying for schools and he had applied to some that I didn't because he was considering going into a theater program.

"When I realized that he could be going somewhere completely different than me, I realized that I didn't really want to spend four years with only being able to see him during breaks."

Jeff nodded and softly grunted his agreement.

"I didn't talk to him about it, though," Troy continued, "because I wanted him to do what he wanted, and if that meant us going to different schools, then I would cope. Words can't even express the relief I felt when he decided to come here with me, though."

"Yeah, I don't even want to know what you would have been like if he hadn't come here," Jeff said. "You've acted like a zombie for the last three hours. I can't imagine living with you for an entire year if you were like this all the time."

Troy made a face and flipped his roommate the bird. "Whatever. He decided to do an English program and come here. I don't know what made him come to the decision, but I'm glad he did."

Jeff made a motion to go back to reading his magazine, but Troy cleared his throat. When Jeff looked up, Troy was staring back expectantly at him.

"Well?" Troy started. "What about this bonding? I've talked, now it's your turn. What's your story?"

"Well, I was born and raised in West Virginia …" Jeff began.

"Wait, West Virginia? If you're from way out there, why come here?" Troy asked, obviously confused.

"My parents both went here. They met each other here, yadda, yadda, yadda … I was born to be a Beaver," Jeff explained. "It's simple, really. My dad wants me to have the same great experience he had in college and therefore I am here and will be joining his fraternity."

Troy frowned, "Is that really what you want, though? I mean, to join your dad's fraternity and do everything like that?"

"I don't have anything against it," Jeff said. "And if it helps me integrate more into life here _and _gets my dad off my back, then I can't see any down side to it."

"I guess if that's how you want to look at it," Troy responded. "When do you plan on telling your parents that you like boys?" He tried to bring up nonchalantly.

"Troy, for the last time, I don't like boys," Jeff said exasperatedly. "I've only ever dated girls. Just because you like guys doesn't mean I do, too."

"Okay, okay," Troy said as he tried to hide his smile by throwing his arms in front of his face like he was trying to block an attack. "You don't like boys, I get it." That didn't mean he didn't like one specific boy, though. Whatever kind of denial Jeff was in, he wouldn't be coming out of it today. Troy would just get Ryan to work on him. He had that effect on people.

Just then, Troy's phone started going off. Troy reached over to his desk to fumble around for the noisy piece of technology. It was Ryan. Troy's face immediately brightened.

"Hey, babe," he answered. "Sure, I'll be down in five minutes. Do you want to eat on campus or go uptown?"

With a hurried goodbye, Troy hung up the phone and quickly got up, slipped on his shoes and made for the door.

"Goodbye to you, too," Jeff yelled.

Troy backtracked a few steps to stand in front of Jeff's bed. "Sorry, it was Ryan," Troy began as Jeff gave him a look that said 'no shit.'

"I've got to meet him down in the lobby," Troy finished lamely. Jeff could tell staying in this room any longer was the last thing on his mind.

"Fine, go meet your loverboy," Jeff said as he shook his head. Then as a kind of afterthought, that probably wasn't much of an afterthought, he added, "and if you see Kaden, tell him I said hi."

Troy just laughed and nodded in the affirmative as he quickly left the dorm room that was very fast becoming home.

---------------------------------

Ryan gently pressed the door shut, then turned around and leaned up against it. After a moment of just standing there, he began walking further into his room, smiling dumbly to himself.

"What's with the goofy look, captain?" Kaden asked as he looked up from the book he was reading.

Ryan just sighed as he plopped down on his bed. "Nothing, absolutely nothing."

"Well, I wish nothing would happen to me to make me look like that," Kaden said. Now very interested in what had happened while his roommate was at dinner. "What did you guys do?"

Ryan just laid back on his bed with his arms behind his head. "We just went uptown to that University Hero sub shop and then walked down to that little park in front of the municipal building to eat."

Kaden sighed. A picnic dinner sounded romantic.

"We just sat and talked and watched the kids running through that little fountain. It was all just … perfect," Ryan finished emphatically.

"Troy held my hand the whole time," Ryan continued, his voice sounding somewhat airy. "And he'd just lean over at random times and kiss my cheek. I had the best time."

Kaden laughed a little at the last part, "You guys are always holding hands. Why was this time any different? Not that I'm trying to get you down or anything."

Ryan shifted on his bed to get a better look at his roommate. "We're more affectionate in public here than we ever were back home. For some reason, I guess coming off to college really agrees with Troy's and my relationship," he shrugged and continued. "It's still new to me, though … and I love it."

"I guess that would make a difference," Kaden agreed, then suddenly said, "I need to find someone to make me feel the way Troy makes you feel."

Ryan grinned. It was nice to see that there were other people who could tell what he and Troy had was special. "Well, Jeff said to say hi to you, so, maybe you already have someone who wants to try."

"Ugh!" Kaden yelled as he threw himself back on his bed. "Enough with the Jeff theory already. He's probably just being friendly is all."

Ryan rolled his eyes. Troy was right — boys really were stupid sometimes.

"Either way," Kaden forged on, "it takes someone special to get what you've got and both you and Troy are lucky bastards in my opinion."

"We are, aren't we," Ryan said. It was definitely more of a statement than it was a question. He realized how lucky he was. He never thought he would have this, and definitely not with the person he had been harboring a crush on since middle school.

"I really do love him," Ryan said after several moments of comfortable silence. "I mean, I really love him. In a forever kind of way."

"There's no way you could look like you did and not," Kaden said seriously. "He really makes you feel like one in a million doesn't he?"

"He's the reason I get up in the morning," Ryan said without missing a beat. "For a while, I considered going to a school in North Carolina that had a really good theater department. But then I realized I couldn't stand being so far away from Troy."

Kaden realized what Ryan was saying, but he couldn't help what he asked next. "Don't you think that's kind of like putting all your eggs in one basket, though? I mean, following your boyfriend to a school … and one that doesn't even really have a good theater department."

"That's the same thing my sister said," Ryan replied. He'd had to defend his decision to his skeptical sister when he'd finally made it. "Don't get me wrong, I love the theater, but I also love English and writing, so it's not like I was giving something up, I was just changing focuses, and like I said, I love Troy. Truly, madly, deeply. That will never change."

Kaden could sense the finality in Ryan's voice. There was no way anyone would ever be able to convince him that he had maybe made a poor decision. And, if one considered it, if he was able to say it with such conviction and assurance, it was probably true anyway.

"Well," Kaden said, "I'm going to catch some shut eye so I'm able to get up tomorrow for my 8 a.m. class."

"Yeah," Ryan said as he slipped off his shoes and began removing his shirt, "I guess we should be prepared for the whole school part of this place, right?"

Kaden laughed and, once he was down to his boxers, slipped under the covers of his bed.

Ryan was up for only a few more minutes as he brushed his teeth and made some last minute preparations for the next day. He turned off his bedside lamp as he slipped under the covers and softly said goodnight to his roommate.

AUTHOR'S NOTE!

I thought I'd try to begin my apology for a six-month posting absence by making two posts in about a week and then making this one really long! I just started my masters program here in Ohio and I'm getting pretty busy, but my goal is to try and get a chapter up once a week (around a week). I'll try my best. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I'm actually really pleased with it. Read and Review!!!


	6. Chapter 6

8 a.m. classes were the devil. Whoever thought that an intro to college math course should be taught in a giant lecture hall before noon should be dragged out into the street and shot. That is exactly what was going through Ryan's head as he walked out of the mathematics building and into the sun of the mid-morning day.

The only thing that had kept him awake during the class was the knowledge that he would be meeting Troy for a late breakfast. Although it probably wasn't the best way to succeed in the class, at least he wouldn't be embarrassed by bobbing his head and being caught by the professor … that probably wasn't the way to a good grade either.

It also didn't help that Ryan was downright horrible at math, but that was besides the point. He shook off his feelings of mathematical inadequacy as he walked through the open quad and took in his surroundings. Massive brick buildings surrounded the grassy field. It all seemed so … academic. Then he looked forward and was confronted by the most massive building on campus: the student union. It was all so grand, the pillars, the giant dome rotunda in the center. It really made one feel a part of something really important.

His attention was soon taken from the giant building and focused more on the brown haired boy standing out by the steps that lead up to the main entrance. Ryan felt his face split into a wide grin as he picked up the pace until he was standing directly in front of his boyfriend.

"Well, hello there, stranger," Troy said as he opened his arms to give his boyfriend a hug. Ryan threw himself into his boyfriend's arms, finding himself still marveling at the fact that he fit so well with Troy. When Ryan pulled back from the hug, Troy leaned in to plant a chaste kiss on his lips.

Ryan smiled then asked, "So, how was your leisurely morning? Did you sleep in and then get up to take a nice long shower while I sat in the depths of hell listening to some robot drone on about probability?"

Troy laughed as Ryan poked him in the chest. "Did you know we didn't even get one of those 'syllabus days?' We just went straight into the work! I have homework already!"

Troy just put his hand out to cover Ryan's mouth. "You know, maybe you should have stuck with drama. You're so, so good at it."

Ryan pushed the hand away and scoffed at his boyfriend's assessment of the two-hour torment he had just sat through. "You're going to pay for that, Mr. Bolton," Ryan said as he spun around and began walking up the steps. "Looks like breakfast is on you."

"I guess I deserve that," Troy said as he jogged to catch up with his boyfriend. Reaching to grab Ryan's hand, he continued, "Whatever possessed you to register for a math class so early in the morning, anyway? Everyone knows how much you hate it. It's almost as much as Sharpay hates an outfit without pink."

"Believe it or not, it was the only time that was available," Ryan said through his giggles. Troy had been dead on with his assessment of Sharpay. "And I would rather get my math requirement out of the way sooner than later."

Then, turning to face Troy and stopping their progress to breakfast, Ryan cast a sympathetic look at his boyfriend. "I really do pity you, having to take all those science and math classes. This will be my last one … ever," Ryan finished with a gleam in his eye that could have rivaled the one there when Troy first told him he loved him.

"Well, that's generally what us science majors do, you know," Troy said as he began dragging Ryan closer to the food court. "Now stop slowing us down. I'm starving."

The two walked through the massive building heading toward the food court. They came to stop in front of Carl's Jr. Traditionally it was a burger joint, but until 10:30 every morning, they served breakfast type foods.

"This is just so healthy," Ryan complained. "I know we just had this discussion a few days ago, but seriously, I don't get how you stay so fit."

"Oh just shut up and get the French toast sticks," Troy responded as they got into line. "You know that's what you want anyway. It's what you always get." Then he began to imitate Ryan's tone of voice as if he were actually ordering, "I'm Ryan and I'd like an order of French toast sticks, oh, and could I get extra syrup?" Then he batted his eyes.

Ryan rolled his eyes and pushed Troy forward to the counter. "Just order already."

Troy laughed and began placing their order as Ryan walked over to the condiment station near the cashier line and began getting napkins and forks. In a matter of minutes, the two were heading to the nearest booth.

"So," Troy began as they sat down, "was your math class really all that bad?"

"It was awful," Ryan said as he opened the carton containing his French toast sticks. "I don't know how I'll survive 10 weeks of this class. I just have to try my hardest and go for the C-. Then I never have to worry about this ever again."

Troy laughed and reached out to grab Ryan's hand. "It'll be okay. And if you need any help, I'm here. Besides, then you can help me out with my writing assignments."

Ryan stuck out his tongue and then dug into his breakfast. Troy just laughed. For all his talk about eating healthy and exercising, Ryan would be the first person in line to eat something — no, anything — with sugar.

He had just taken a particularly savory bite of French toast and began twirling the remaining portion of the confection between his fingers when he began talking. "So, rush starts tonight, huh? Do you know what you'll be doing yet?"

Troy looked up. He knew Ryan didn't like talking about him joining a fraternity, so the fact that he brought it up himself surprised Troy.

"Well," he began, "We're supposed to meet outside this building at 6 p.m. and then they'll be splitting us into groups to take us around to the different houses. I guess tonight we're just supposed to be meeting all the guys."

"Splitting you up into groups, huh?" Ryan asked. "I guess it is easier to brainwash smaller groups." He began laughing softly, but was not joined by Troy who was actually now wearing a frown across his graceful features.

"It's not funny, Ry." Troy said. "And I don't really appreciate it when you keep on making jokes about something that is important to me."

Ryan had stopped laughing the minute Troy started to speak. He knew he'd overstepped his bounds with the fraternity thing again. He probably should have known what would set his boyfriend off by now, but that never seemed to stop him until it was too late.

"Look," Ryan began, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. You know I'm just having a little fun." When Troy didn't respond, Ryan began to worry a bit. "Troy, you _know_ I didn't."

"No, Ryan," Troy started, "I don't. Every time we talk about me joining a fraternity you do something to make me feel stupid for wanting to try something new or you try to talk me out of it." Troy had now put down his breakfast sandwich and was looking at Ryan with his complete attention. "I don't know what to tell you to make you realize that I really do want to join a fraternity. I at least want to give it a shot."

Troy then slipped out of the booth and began walking down the corridor leading out of the building.

"Shit," Ryan whispered to himself as he got out of the booth, his French toast sticks forgotten, and ran after his boyfriend.

It didn't take too long for Ryan to catch up with Troy, even though the brunette was walking at what some would call a brisk pace. When he caught up with Troy, he put his hand on Troy's shoulder, which Troy promptly shrugged off.

And then Ryan yelled, "Troy, dammit, stop!"

Troy stopped abruptly and Ryan had to do some quick maneuvering in order to keep from running into his boyfriend. He then put his hand back on Troy's shoulder and, when it wasn't shrugged off, he gently turned Troy around.

"Please, Troy, just listen to me," Ryan said sincerely. "I never meant to upset you like that. If I knew it would have I never would have said it. It was just a joke."

When Troy made no move to respond or even look Ryan straight in the face, he continued. "I just … I don't understand this. And I don't like not understanding something about you. I mean …" Ryan trailed off, his face red from embarrassment. He put both hands up to wipe at his face.

"I know pretty much everything about you, Troy," Ryan said. He couldn't believe he was bearing his soul to his boyfriend in the center of the student union. "I don't like the fact that you'll be doing something that you'll have to keep a secret from me."

Ryan couldn't see it, because he had his eyes firmly planted on the floor, but Troy's features softened at the admission. He always thought that Ryan's problem with the whole fraternity thing had something to do with some misconceived notion developed from popular culture's portrayal of the Greek community. He didn't know the subtle prodding at his decision to rush had a much more personal reason behind it.

"Oh, babe," Troy said as he moved closer and brought his arms up to encircle Ryan's waist. "I didn't know. I always … I just … you need to tell me when something bothers you like that, Ry. Don't let it fester like that." Then he chucked Ryan on the chin to get him to look Troy in the eyes. "I love you, and I don't like fighting with you. Promise me you won't do this again."

Ryan smiled lightly and then shook his head. "God, I feel like such a girl. I'm sorry I made you feel like that, I just … ugh. Let's just never fight again, okay?"

"Agreed," Troy smiled, then leaned down to kiss Ryan lightly.

Ryan hugged Troy close to him and leaned his head against Troy's chest. "You know," he began, "we no longer have our breakfast. At this rate you're going to owe me a lot of meals."

"And it's too bad I couldn't take you back to my room to feed you something else …" Troy said while waggling his eyebrow.

Ryan's mouth opened wide, a scandalized look passing over his face. "Troy! That is disgusting. I can't believe you actually just said that. And here in the middle of this building where anyone could here." He kept looking around, making sure that no one else could hear.

Troy just laughed. "Come on, I have to get ready for class, and if I remember correctly you have another class in …" Troy looked down at his watch, "about 20 minutes, so you better hurry up."

Ryan pulled away reluctantly and moved to kiss Troy on the cheek, but Troy moved his head so the kiss landed right on his lips.

"Okay, well, call me or something when you're done with your rush thing tonight."

----------------------------------

Ryan walked up the steps to the second floor of the English building. Well, it was actually only the second floor, but everyone considered it the third floor. Confusing? Yes. But so is reality. And thus is life.

As he stepped into the classroom, he noted the mismatched desks and chairs and chuckled. It looked like a hodgepodge of furniture from the '60s. Ryan took a seat in a row toward the middle. There were only a few people in the room yet, so he had his pick. Not too far forward, but not far enough back to be considered a slacker. Just how he liked it.

He sat alone for a few more minutes before he noticed some motion in his peripheral and looked up to see Jeff walk through the door. He smiled and waved Troy's roommate over to sit next to him.

"It looks like you got roped into taking this composition course, too, huh?" Jeff said as he walked over to Ryan. It looked as though he wanted to be anywhere else in the world but here.

"Well," Ryan responded, "considering I'm an English major, I guess it would be important for me to know how to write, right? It's kind of important." Ryan laughed when Jeff only shrugged as to indicate a response like 'I guess.'

"It looks like you and Troy are in for a world of hurt this year," Ryan continued. "Troy can hardly spell his own name. I mean, you put some math formula in front of him and BAM! There it is. Ask him the differences between their, there and they're and he has no idea what to do."

At Jeff's somewhat frightened look, Ryan added, "It's okay, what Troy lacks in language skills he more than makes up for in rugged good looks."

"Right," Jeff deadpanned as he leaned in closer to Ryan. "As long as his rugged good looks come with you, my walking, talking dictionary, then we'll be a-okay."

Just then, the professor stepped to the front of the room and began speaking. "Hello, my name is Professor Williams and welcome to Introduction to English Composition."

The class continued unabated for another 50 minutes. Most students paid attention. Most students who weren't named Jeff. Ryan found himself elbowing his friend several times when he started softly snoring. Eventually, however, the class ended and Ryan was able to shake Jeff awake one final time just before leaving the building.

"I can't believe she assigned us a paper already!" Jeff whined as he walked with Ryan outside. "It's the first day of class! What kind of professor is she? I can't believe I have to take this class … I mean, I'm a business major!"

"Calm down," Ryan said. "It's only one page long, and it's about yourself. How hard could it be?"

"It's a whole page! Single-spaced! That's like two pages in regular person length," Jeff continued on his rampage against all things literate.

Ryan just laughed and shook his head. Jeff and Troy really were like two peas in a pod. No wonder they were both rushing fraternities.

----------------------------

Troy and Jeff stood in the entryway to Chi Delta, the fraternity Jeff was apparently destined to join. The house looked pretty much like every other chapter house they had been to that evening, at least on the outside. The building was mostly brick, with a kind of ornate woodworking for the trusses and Greek letters gracing the sides, announcing to all who passed by exactly what their affiliation was.

Troy, who had not previously known much about the Greek system had relied on his roommate to convey knowledge about what each of the letters represented. He didn't feel like listening to Jeff laugh at him for five minutes straight like he had after an unfortunate experience at Phi Kappa Psi, which Troy had dubbed "Circle with a line through it, K, pitchfork."

The foyer in which they now found themselves had deep cherrywood moulding lining much of the room, continuing into the other rooms, the floor was hardwood — like, actual hardwood flooring, not just the Formica that looked like it — and there were pictures (Jeff called them composites) lining many of the walls. Troy had seen some pretty interesting ones from the '70s in other houses. Whoever thought those hair-dos had ever been stylish was greatly mistaken.

"Well, it's the last house for the evening," Jeff said to Troy as they waited for their host to come get them.

"Yeah," Troy replied as he leaned against the wall, fidgeting with his tie. Ryan said he looked 'so cute' before he left for the evening. "It's a good thing, too, I'm about ready to pass out. Who knew talking could take so much energy."

Jeff just nodded in agreement. All they had been doing since 6 p.m. was going from one place to the next and making, what was sometimes very superficial, small talk. Some houses had been better than others — both in members and structure.

Troy couldn't help but shudder when he though of that one house he had been to earlier where he could have sworn the carpet had begun moving of it's own accord. He felt dirty just standing there.

This house, on the other hand, was much different. It was clean, well-lit and looked rather well taken care of. Troy could definitely see himself living here with a group of guys for a year or two. Also, if the more recent composites were anything to go off of, the guys looked like a decent bunch of human beings.

Just then, a guy walked in through the double doors leading from what Troy could only assume was the formal living room. He was wearing a suit, and on the lapel was a small metal badge. Troy had seen many of them throughout the evening, but this one was much more simple. It looked like it was the two Greek letters that made up the name of the fraternity, one placed on top of the other. Simple, but elegant.

"Hi," said the host. "My name is Zack. I'm the pledge educator here at Chi Delta. In just a second, I'll be taking you into the formal living room so you can meet the other members. The only advice I can give you is to make a good first impression. That's how we'll remember you when it comes time to select new pledges."

The speech was pretty much the same, but Troy couldn't help but wish he was already in there talking so that he could go home that much quicker. He just wanted to talk with Ryan before he went to bed.

The group of potential pledges began following Zack into the large room that was filled with other men dressed in suits. They immediately began introducing themselves in hopes of making the best first impression. Troy left Jeff toward the front of the room and began making his way to the couch that was over by the corner. There were a few guys sitting around there and what Troy really wanted to do for just a few minutes was sit down. His dress shoes were killing him. He didn't even begin to understand how Ryan was able to wear them all the time.

As he got closer to the couch, Troy smiled at the members and stuck out his hand to introduce himself. "Hey, my name is Troy."

A chorus of 'heys' could be heard and Troy made to sit down next to one of the guys. The conversation remained relatively neutral for quite a while, each of the men exchanging the pleasantries such as name, hometown, major and the like. They talked about sports for a while and the term's classes. Then, for some unknown reason, the conversation turned.

"So, you been to Jiggles since you got here?" one of the guys, Rick, asked.

Troy looked a little confused, then responded, "No." He didn't know exactly what Jiggles was, but he could guess that it was some place that he had no intention of frequenting anytime soon. Just for the sake of conversation, however, he added, "What's that?"

"Oh man," Rick continued. "It's only the best titty bar I've ever been to." Then he got a kind of lusty look in his eyes and continued. "Damn, the chicks there got the biggest racks I've ever seen. And you know they're all real."

"Yeah," another guy chimed in. "Fake tits just don't move like that."

The other guys sitting on the couches just nodded their heads in agreement. Troy laughed nervously and said, "I – I don't know if my boyfriend would approve of me going somewhere like that," his voice shaking with fake laughter. Inside he was thinking of how gross boobs were.

Not that he couldn't appreciate the female form — he just didn't want to think about girl body parts … moving like that. Gross.

He was so caught up in his internal monologue that he missed the fact that the conversation had come to a complete halt. When he finally came to, he looked around and smiled awkwardly.

The conversation was incredibly stunted from that point on, never really delving much deeper than some very superficial talk about how math classes, on the whole, sucked. Just another point Troy didn't necessarily agree with.

After another 15 minutes of awkward conversation, time was called and all the potential pledges began rounding up for departure. Troy was grateful to put an end to his experience and meet up with Jeff so they could head back to their dorm room.

As he began making his way toward the exit, Troy heard snickering coming from behind him. He glanced back to see several of the guys covering their mouths in a poor attempt to hide their cruel laughter. Troy just straightened his back and kept walking. Then he heard a not-so-muffled "fag" come from the same corner.

Troy couldn't help but laugh ruefully at the immaturity of these so-called 'gentlemen' as they made jokes about someone they knew absolutely nothing about. He just kept walking. It wasn't even worth his time.

As Troy reconnected with Jeff out in the yard, he was able to gather that they both had drastically different opinions of the group of men they had just left.

"So?" Jeff asked expectantly. "Are we going to be fraternity brothers or what?"

"I don't know," Troy began. When he saw Jeff's face fall, he couldn't bear to tell his friend what a bunch of jackasses his soon-to-be brothers were to him. "I just didn't really feel a connection with them, you know?"

"Yeah," Jeff began, still somewhat disappointed that he and Troy would probably not be joining the same chapter. "I guess you can't fake chemistry, right? If you don't mesh, you don't mesh."

"Yeah, that's it," Troy agreed half-heartedly.

"Oh well," Jeff started again, still completely oblivious to how Troy was acting. "Let's get back to the room. Then you can talk to lover boy … I know that's what you've been waiting for."

The two roommates laughed with each other as they walked away from the house and back toward campus.

---------------------------------

'bballer87' has logged in

**bballer87:** hey, Ry

**RyEv411:** 'I'm away from my computer right now'

**bballer87:** come on, Ry … I know you're there

**RyEv411:** Hey, babe. How was rush?

**RyEv411:** Am I gonna have to fight off any guys for your affections?

**bballer87:** Haha … you know there's no one else for me

**RyEv411:** I know, I just like hearing it

**RyEv411:** Seriously, though … how was it? Anything good?

**bballer87:** Yeah, most of the people were great. Just a few were douche bags

**RyEv411:** Oh really? Am I gonna have to throw down? Cause I will

**bballer87:** Ha, no. Besides, I'd end up fighting for you anyway

**RyEv411:** Hey!

**bballer87:** It's cool, I'd finish a fight for you

**RyEv411:** Why, Mr. Bolton … are you flirting with me?

**bballer87:** It took you this long to catch on?

**bballer87:** I missed you tonight

**RyEv411:** Aww … I missed you, too, babe

**RyEv411:** Life is pretty boring without you … although Kaden did get this hand stuck inside the arm of his jacket.

**RyEv411:** That was pretty funny

**bballer87:** lol. How'd he do that?

**RyEv411:** Don't even ask. Long story, and I've been threatened with death if I tell anyone more than what I've already told you.

**bballer87:** Well, that wouldn't be any good

**RyEv411:** No. No it would not.

**bballer87:** … I don't have class until 11 tomorrow. Wanna sleepover?

**RyEv411:** Aw, babe. As much fun as that sounds, and as tempted as I am, I have class at 8 again

**RyEv411:** And I'd never make it if I slept over

**bballer87:** c'mon, Ry … pleeeeeeeeeease

**RyEv411:** Your internet pout will not work on me. My resolve is like steel.

**bballer87:** Fine. Have your fun. Alone. In your own bed.

**RyEv411:** Don't be like that

**RyEv411:** Besides, we're both done with classes by noon tomorrow

**RyEv411:** We can meet for lunch and then spend the entire afternoon together.

**bballer87:** I guess I can live with just an afternoon

**RyEv411:** Who said just an afternoon?

**RyEv411:** If you get done with rush at a reasonable hour, I could probably be persuaded to come over tomorrow night. I don't have class on Wednesday.

**bballer87:** I love college

**RyEv411:** And I love you

**RyEv411:** And as much as I love you, I love sleep, too.

**bballer87:** Go get your beauty sleep, then

**RyEv411:** I knew you'd understand. I mean, I only look pretty for you, ya know.

**bballer87:** Right. Now … go to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow

**RyEv411:** I love you

**bballer87:** I love you, too

**RyEv411:** Night, babe

**bballer87:** goodnight

'RyEv411' has signed off

'bballer87' has signed off


	7. Chapter 7

Troy was sitting in a corner of the Sigma Phi Gamma fraternity by himself fiddling with his tie as he went through the motions of another night of rush. He had been separated from Jeff, who had listed Chi Delta as one of his preferences. After his encounter at Chi Delta last night, there was no way Troy would ever consider joining that particular house, and he was seriously considering his decision to try to join a fraternity. He was so engrossed with rolling and unrolling his tie and thinking about Ryan that he didn't notice as one of the members approached him.

"Hey," the unexpected greeting startled Troy out of his reverie. He looked up to see a tall slender man — probably a senior — standing in front of him with a smile plastered across his face. "What are you doing all by yourself over here? Are we not entertaining enough for you?"

"W-well, I-I … I mean …" Troy began stuttering. While he wasn't really putting forth much effort to impress people tonight, he wasn't really trying to offend anyone. He was caught off guard once again when the person in front of him began laughing.

"It's okay, guy," the guy started saying. "I was just wondering why you chose to sit over here and play with your tie while all the other rushes are tripping all over each other trying to impress us."

The guy moved to sit in a chair across from Troy as Troy resigned himself to being permanently embarrassed. Who in the hell gets caught playing with his tie? Especially someone who is 18 years old. Troy was still kicking himself when he heard a cough from the chair across him. Troy looked up to see the guy smiling at him from behind a fist.

"Oh, sorry," Troy said, apparently finding his voice. "I don't know, I guess I was just questioning my decision to go through rush." Troy gave out another sigh, "Maybe it just wasn't the right choice for me."

"Did you have a rough go of it last night?" the guy asked.

"Well, it was great at first," Troy started. "Then I went over to Chi Delta and, I don't know, I guess I thought it was going to be a great place because my roommate's dad was a member there and he's a great guy, but then I said something and the guys just turned into huge douche bags." It was then that Troy realized he had all but spilled his guts to this guy … and he didn't even know his name.

"Ah, Chi Delta," the guy said with an understanding tone. "Not the most accepting guys, are they?" Then he repositioned himself in the chair and asked, "What did you say to set them off anyway?"

Troy chuckled to himself. This guy seemed genuinely interested, and, from what Troy could tell, a genuinely nice guy. Still, he didn't want to go spouting off about his boyfriend again without first knowing the name of the person to whom he was talking.

"Well, while it is nice to actually have a real conversation with someone, I don't even know your name," Troy started, "and I'd just feel better talking about everything if I knew who you were."

"Yeah, I guess that's a reasonable request," the guy chuckled softly as he glanced at his fingernails. "So, my name is Parker. I'm a senior in English literature with an emphasis in pre-1800 British lit. I was born and raised in Eugene and I plan on going on to my begin a masters degree program in composition after I finish my bachelor's degree here."

The guy, Parker, then looked back into Troy's face and smiled. "Your turn."

Turnabout was fair play, and Parker had been more than cooperative, so Troy started with his life story. "My name is Troy. I'm from Arizona and I'm majoring in science. I hope to be pre-med. And the reason I think that the Chi Delta guys are a bunch of douche bags is because …"

At this point, Troy trailed off. Was he really going to admit he was gay and possibly face the scorn of a completely different group of guys? It only took a second for him to come to the conclusion that if the people he would tell couldn't get past that one simple fact, then it wasn't worth his time to try and affiliate with them.

Troy looked back up at Grant and started to finish what he had already started, "Because I told them about my boyfriend and the only thing they could do was call me a fag." He squared his shoulders as he finished, preparing himself for the worst reaction while hoping for the best.

"Ah yes," Parker said after contemplating for a moment what Troy had said. "It would appear as though things haven't changed much at the Chi Delt house in the last four years." Parker then sat back and crossed his legs, looking like he was settling down for a long conversation.

"I remember when I was rushing," Parker started. "I told one of the other potential pledges about my boyfriend while we were there, and the next thing I knew, no one there would talk to me. It was all very awkward."

Troy looked on, still processing what Parker had just told him. "You mean … you're — you're gay, too?"

"Well, I think my boyfriend would be pretty surprised if I wasn't," Parker said as he laughed off Troy's question.

"I guess I just didn't expect to find anyone else after last night," Troy said, feeling a huge weight lift from his shoulders. He hadn't even realized he'd worked himself up so much while telling Parker about himself.

"Don't look so surprised, Troy, we gays are everywhere nowadays," Parker said, then leading forward, he continued. "I could tell you were one of us from the moment you walked in this house. Coming off to the corner just confirmed that, well, and that you had some kind of bad experience regarding it recently."

"Am I that obvious?" Troy asked.

"About being gay? No," Parker responded. "That takes a well-honed gaydar to detect with some people. I could just tell you were upset with something, so I decided to come over and see if I could help."

"Well, I'm glad you did," Troy said. He had now relaxed and was actually starting to enjoy himself again. "I was starting to think the same thing Ryan does about this whole fraternity thing. I guess I never expected to be treated like that from guys who say they're all about brotherhood and stuff."

"Yeah, well, sometimes the wrong kind of people get a hold of something that is meant to be good and bring out the best in others," Parker explained. Then he shifted gears and asked Troy something else. "So, is Ryan your boyfriend?"

"Yeah," Troy said with a smile. He leaned back in his chair and began talking about one of his favorite things in the world: his boyfriend. "We've known each other since we were really little, and we've been dating for about a year and a half. He's going to school here, too. He's actually an English major, too. Maybe you'll see him around."

"Well, you must be head over heals for him," Parker said, and when Troy gave him a confused look, he continued. "Your whole demeanor changed when you started talking about him. I've been told that I do the same thing, and I know I'm head over heals for my guy. So, I just assumed the same for you."

"You're pretty dang observant," Troy said with a laugh. He'd never interacted with anyone who could read him so well. Except for Ryan, of course.

"I've also been accused of that," Parker said as he laughed and nodded his head. "I guess it's just a result of the wonderful liberal arts education I've received here."

Troy laughed. This Parker guy was quite a character. This was turning out much differently than he had been expecting, and he was really glad for it. He was genuinely interested in Parker and his story, and what was really intriguing him now was Parker's boyfriend. So he asked.

"What about your boyfriend? Does he go here? How long have you been dating?"

"Ah, I see the tables have turned, haven't they, grasshopper?" Parker asked. He then got a look in his eyes, one, Troy assumed, that he got when he started talking about Ryan. "Well, I also went to high school with Kyle. We've been dating since our junior year. He actually decided to stick around home and go to the University of Oregon — I don't hold that against him."

Troy laughed. He was glad that he was able to meet at least one truly genuine person while going through this whole experience. He wondered if the rest of the members of this chapter were as open and interesting as Parker. Meanwhile, Parker was still continuing to go on about his boyfriend.

"He's actually a member of Chi Delta down there," Parker said, raising his eyebrow as if he were considering it as some cosmic irony. At Troy's confused look, he continued explaining. "You see, different chapters of the same fraternity can be incredibly different. It just so happens that the Chi Delts at Oregon are a bunch of great guys."

"Weird …" Troy said.

"Tell me about it," Parker said as he shook his head. "But enough about this. Why don't we go down to the basement with some of the guys and play a game of pool?"

"That sounds great," Troy said as they both got up and began moving across the room toward the stairs leading to the basement.

As they walked down the stairs, Troy felt like he was going into a whole different world. While the first floor of the house was very formal, filled with nice furniture, portraits and all manner of fancy looking things, the basement was like a huge game room. Much more modern and laid back.

When Troy reached the bottom of the stairs, he stood for a second, taking in his surroundings. On one side, there was a huge open space with different colored lights running along the ceiling. It must have been a dance floor. In the corner, there looked to be a DJ booth, and then some couches bordering the walls.

On the other side, where the few guys that came down with him were heading, was a bar, some washers and dryers stuck in the back, and then an old looking pool table.

Parker saw Troy staring at the pool table and spoke up. "You like it?" Parker asked, gesturing toward the pool table. "This pool table was actually stolen from the student union on campus in the 1930s when they were doing some renovations. It's been here ever since."

Troy looked on appreciatively. It was fun to hear about the colorful history that each chapter had. He soon lost himself in playing the game and getting to know the other guys as well as learning more and more about Parker. Overall, Troy was having a great time and found that he was disappointed when the game was over, even though that meant getting back to Ryan and an evening of fun.

"Well, Troy," Parker said as he hung up his cue on the rack against the wall, "that was a great game of pool. I hope you had a good time with us."

Troy nodded emphatically, "Oh yeah, I had a great time. Actually, I'm kind of disappointed that the evening is over. I was really enjoying getting to know you all … especially after what I went through last night," then he paused. "It was nice to see that I made a good decision by going through rush.

"Well," Parker said as he made to lean against the pool table, "hopefully we can get you to make another good decision."

"Huh?" Troy asked, not getting where Parker was going with this.

"Troy, we've decided," Parker said as he gestured to the other men standing with him, "that we would be stupid to let you continue going through this process without letting you know how honored we'd be if you chose to pledge our chapter. Which is why we're offering you a bid tonight."

As Parker extended Troy his hand, which held a card, Troy heard the other guys in the basement begin to yell congratulations. Troy was ecstatic.

------------------------------

Ryan jumped from his bed as he heard the knock at the door. He'd been expecting Troy for a while now and he was excited to see Troy all dressed up. He just looked so cute in a shirt and tie.

His smile widened as he opened the door and came face to face with his boyfriend. Troy was still dressed up, although he had loosened his tie and rolled up the sleeves on his shirt. That just served to make him look even sexier — at least to Ryan. Troy returned the smile and then reached out his hand, which held a small flower in it.

"For me?" Ryan questioned. Troy gave him a look that said 'For whom else would it be?'

Ryan took it and brought it up to his nose. He smiled and then launched himself into Troy's arms. "You're such a sap," Ryan whispered. "I love it." They hugged tightly for several moments in the hallway before Ryan pulled back, grabbing a hold of Troy's hand and dragging him into their room.

Troy heard a whistle coming from the opposite side of the room as he stepped fully inside. "Whew," Kaden said from his position on his bed. "Someone looks dressed to impress tonight." At that, he waggled his eyebrow suggestively at Troy.

Troy just blushed and moved closer to Ryan. He knew he was attractive, but he was still embarrassed by anyone who said anything about it other than his boyfriend. Ryan just moved closer to Troy and said to his roommate, "Oh stop it. You're just jealous because this mean hunk of man is all mine." With that, he stuck out his tongue at his roommate.

The two roommates laughed, and didn't even notice as Troy moved over to Ryan's bed to bury his head under one of the pillows. One of these days, he would die of embarrassment. And it would be all Ryan's fault, even though Kaden was starting to give him a run for his money.

Ryan then noticed that his boyfriend had vacated his place next to him. He rolled his eyes and moved to sit next to Troy. He was still curious about what had happened at the fraternity houses tonight.

"So, babe," Ryan started as he rubbed Troy's back, trying to get him to come out of hiding, "what happened tonight? You didn't hardly tell me anything about last night, now come on out from under that pillow and tell me everything."

Troy groaned from under the pillow, but sat up anyway and allowed Ryan to lean against him as he began telling the story.

"Oh my gosh," Ryan exclaimed after hearing the rundown of the nights events. "That's so exciting! I mean, they offered you a bid two days before they were supposed to? That's good, right?"

Troy laughed at his boyfriend's exuberance over something he didn't really understand and moved to wrap his arm around his seemingly hyper boyfriend. "Yes, that's a good thing," Troy said. "I'm actually really excited, too. Those guys were great."

"What about Jeff?" Kaden asked. He, too, had been listening to Troy's recollection of the night's events, but was wondering about their missing friend.

At that question, Troy frowned a little, but answered, "Oh, well, he went with the Chi Delts tonight. He'll probably be joining that house."

"I thought you two were planning on joining the same place," Ryan asked. "Wasn't that the plan?"

Troy sighed. He really didn't want to tell Ryan about what had happened the other night, but he knew Ryan would see through any lie he could come up with. So he started to spill the beans. "Well," he began. "We had really wanted to, but things happened last night and I just decided that it would be for the best if I didn't go over there anymore."

Ryan looked a little confused. His brows were furrowed as if he were contemplating something, but didn't yet know how to verbalize it. Then he looked up and asked the question that seemed to be hanging in the air. "What happened that made you not want to go back, Troy?"

Troy hesitated for just a second before he responded, "Well, after I told one of the guys about you," he said as he tightened his grip on Ryan, "they didn't really seem to find me quite as interesting as they did before, but what really sealed the deal was when they started to call me a fag."

Both Ryan and Kaden gasped, as if they had been the ones at the house themselves. Ryan looked up at Troy and then across the room at Kaden. "Troy, maybe it's for the best … I mean, maybe we shouldn't be so open here," Ryan started. "I mean, first there was the guy in the quad, and now there's this fraternity thing. Maybe we should just cool it down a bit in public, yeah?"

Troy looked over at his boyfriend and shook his head. "Ryan, I will never hide who I am or what you mean to me. If some people can't take that, then it's just their problem," Troy said. "I will never do that, and I will never make you do that."

Ryan gave him a lop-sided smile and hugged him closer, but they were soon brought out of their little love-fest when Kaden started to speak again.

"If you're not joining because of that, then why is Jeff?" Kaden asked. "I thought he would have stopped when you told him about it."

"I didn't exactly tell him what happened," Troy admitted. "I just said that we weren't a very good fit."

Ryan could see the next question forming in Kaden's head, and instead of having the good mood from earlier completely ruined by where this conversation was heading, Ryan decided a change in subject was in order.

"Hey, I know!" Ryan exclaimed as he jumped off the bed, letting Troy, who was leaning against him, fall against the mattress. "Why don't we go uptown and see what the social life is like around here. We can even call Jeff. He should be finished with rush stuff by now, right?"

"That sounds great," Troy said, seeing where Ryan was going with this, and he was more than happy to get off the topic of Chi Delta. "I heard of this great place called Cobblestone Place. It's 18 and over and it would be a great time." He then got up and started dialing his room number on Ryan's dorm phone.

When it looked like Kaden wasn't going to accept the invitation, Ryan added, "And Jeff will be there …"

Kaden blushed at Ryan's loaded statement and then agreed to go out, although not too quickly. Apparently he didn't want to seem too eager. Not that Ryan couldn't see past it.

By the time Troy got off the phone with Jeff, Ryan and Kaden were already busy getting ready to go out. He laughed as he watched the two of them stand in front of their mirror, commenting about each other's outfit and giving tips about how to style their hair. Troy was glad that Ryan had found someone that he could be himself around besides Troy, even though he himself had not found the same.

"Okay, Diva," Troy said. "Enough time in front of the mirror. We have to meet Jeff in front of the place in 15 minutes."

Ryan flipped around from the mirror and gave Troy a look before turning back to his reflection. "You know I hate it when you call me that. But fear not, Captain, I'll be ready in time."

--------------------------------

Of course, they were about 15 minutes late. But Ryan sure did look good. Well, both Ryan and Kaden looked good.

Cobblestone Place was a typical college pub. There was loud music, big projection televisions playing the latest games and highlights in sports and even a pinball machine in the back. It was also dirty and sticky.

As soon as the group of friends arrived, they found a booth and made themselves comfortable, Troy and Ryan on one side, Jeff and Kaden on the other. Ryan had to laugh, he and Troy were sitting shoulder to shoulder while Jeff and Kaden were sitting as far apart as humanly possible. Could it be any more obvious that they wanted each other?

Ryan had just finished the soda that Troy had ordered for him, and the conversation at the table had reached an all-time low. "Hey, Kaden," Ryan said while swirling the ice in his glass, "why don't you come up with me and get some drinks."

Before Kaden had the chance to respond, Ryan grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the booth and toward the bar. When the two reached the bar, they leaned up against it and Ryan flashed his best smile at the bartender.

The bartender walked over toward the duo and, while taking his towel out to wipe off the counter, asked, "What can I get you two? Beer? Margarita? Cocktail?"

Ryan and Kaden turned to look at each other with surprised looks on their faces, and Ryan turned back and said, "We'll take two vodka cranberries, thanks."

As the bartender walked away to make their drinks, Kaden turned to Ryan, flabbergasted. "If I knew we could have gotten that to begin with, I wouldn't have wasted time on the Coke."

"Yeah, me either," Ryan agreed. Then, glancing back over his shoulder to where Troy and Jeff were sitting and talking, he asked, "Now, what about Jeff?"

"You're never going to drop this, are you?" Kaden asked, shaking his head.

"Nope," Ryan said, plastering a big smile on his face. "I don't tend to drop issues where my friends seem to be so completely oblivious."

Kaden turned to look back at Jeff, then moved back toward Ryan. "I don't know," he sighed. "He's cute and he's nice … and so completely oblivious." Ryan nodded and Kaden continued, "I mean, I don't know if I can put myself out there for someone who doesn't even understand himself all that much, you know? He doesn't know what he wants, and I don't want to be someone else's experiment. I had that happen once and I don't want it to happen again."

Then the bartender came back with their drinks. Before he had a chance to leave, Ryan put in an order for two shots of vodka. "Something to get things going," he said.

"You remind me so much of me when Troy first asked me out," Ryan said. "I didn't know what to think, and I really didn't want to be his rebound after Gabby.

"But you know what really made me change my mind?" Ryan asked. When Kaden shook his head, he continued, "I realized that I would never get what I want if I never put myself out there."

Kaden looked down toward the bar, "Jeez, Ry, that was so … sappy!" Kaden said as he lifted his head up and smiled at Ryan. "But I guess it's true."

The shots arrived and Kaden downed his quickly. Ryan took a little more time, but downed it nonetheless. Kaden ordered another two, "For liquid encouragement."

They came quickly and both friends downed them in no time. "Well," Ryan said, "How about we leave the bar and go back to our boys?" Kaden giggled and grabbed Ryan's hand, leading him back to their booth.

Troy was, of course, surprised when his boyfriend came back to their table with a cocktail instead of a Coke, but laughed it off and took a quick drink. The four friends continued to talk, now more animatedly, as they passed the hours. They were able to forget about classes, fraternities and anything else in the world and just have a good time.

Several hours and many drinks later, on the part of Ryan and Kaden, found all four of them out on the dance floor. Troy and Ryan grinding together, Kaden and Jeff dancing awkwardly around one another and with others.

Ryan threw his head back in laughter as Troy whispered something in his ear, and continued dancing against his boyfriend. Ryan loved dancing, and apparently drinking increased his desire to do so.

Soon, Ryan was moving from Troy's arms over to Kaden. He coaxed him into dancing dirty with him and soon the two, who drank a little more than they should have, were stumbling all over one another and the dance floor.

Troy and Jeff, who were now standing off to the side, watching the other two stumble more than dance decided that it was probably a good idea to take them both home now.

"I'll get Ryan and you can take care of Kaden," Troy said. "It's probably for the best that we get them out of here before they really embarrass themselves."

Jeff nodded and the two of them walked over to retrieve their friends.

"Come on, babe," Troy said as he wrapped his arm around Ryan's waist. "It's time to get on home."

"Oh, Troy," Ryan slurred. "You always know what's best for me. That's why I love you so much." Ryan finished his declaration by planting a big, sloppy kiss on Troy's lips.

Ten minutes later found the four of them standing outside of the bar, Jeff and Troy propping up their charges. They gave each other a look and Troy mumbled, "It's going to be a long walk home."

---------------------------------

The door swung open and Ryan and Kaden stumbled in laughing with each other.

"You are such a good dancer," Kaden said as he clung to Ryan's arm.

"Oh my gosh," Ryan replied. "So are you. I mean, did you see everyone staring at us when we were dancing? We are hot."

The two friends then tried to high five, which didn't work out so well. In fact, the momentum of the missed swing, made the two tumble to the ground. Troy and Jeff entered the room only to find the two of them a heap on the floor giggling maniacally.

"Come on, Ry," Troy said as he leaned down to get Ryan off the floor, "time to get you into bed."

Ryan continued to giggle, but willingly let Troy help him up. Things were going about the same for Jeff and Kaden, only apparently, while Kaden was getting up, he also began taking his clothes off.

When Troy looked up from Ryan, who was now lying peacefully on his bed, he was confronted with Jeff who was now just staring at Kaden as he fumbled to take off the rest of his clothing.

"Jeff," Troy said, snapping his friend out of his lust-induced stupor. "Why don't you help him with his shoes and then put him under the covers?"

Jeff nodded stupidly and then proceeded to help. Troy then turned his attention back to his boyfriend. He smiled and pushed the hair from Ryan's brow. He was just making to get off the bed when Ryan grabbed his arm and muttered, "Don't go. Stay."

Troy looked over to Jeff who was now standing awkwardly in the room, waiting for Troy and watching Kaden sleep. "I think I'm going to stick around tonight," Troy said. "I'll see you back at the room tomorrow, okay?"

Jeff nodded, then glanced back over toward Kaden before turning to leave the quiet room.

As soon as the door closed, Troy glanced back down at his boyfriend, who apparently still wasn't quite asleep. "Okay, baby," Troy whispered. "I'm going to stay. I just need to take my clothes off."

Ryan turned toward Troy and smiled, "Mmm … just how I'like it."

Troy laughed as he started to take off his pants and shirt. "No, baby, not tonight. We're just going to sleep."

Ryan frowned, "Boo."

"I know," Troy soothed as he climbed under the covers. "I know, baby. Maybe some other time."

Ryan smiled and sighed as he snuggled up to Troy's side. Troy wrapped his arms around the blond and settled down for a good rest.

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has continued to read and review. It really means a lot to know that some people really enjoy what I'm doing. But on to other things! So, I've changed how I write these chapters, in terms of planning them out and they apparently result in these monster chapters. Are the sizes good or are they too long? Would you all like them shorter? Let me know. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and keep reviewing.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So, in a lot of the chapters I allude to sexual activity, but I haven't written any yet. I've alluded to it, but I haven't actually written anything. Maybe it's just me, but when I actually write about something like that happening, I want it to have more meaning than just, "Oh, look. Naked guys." Anyway, in this chapter I've actually written some of that stuff. It's not very explicit, but you can definitely tell what's going on. Let me know if this works or if I've totally missed the mark. I hope you all enjoy.**

Ryan cracked his eyes open. He was laying down in his room, and, judging by the warmth coming from behind him, he figured he was in bed with someone else. The only problem is he didn't quite remember who that someone was. 'It better be Troy or I am in for a world of hurt,' he thought to himself, then quickly modified after he tried moving around to take a look, 'well more hurt than I'm already in.'

He let out a small groan and then laid his head back down on the pillow. The person behind him chose that moment to snuggle closer in to him, rubbing his face in the crook of Ryan's neck. 'Ah, it is Troy,' Ryan thought, then smiled. He'd know that smell anywhere. He settled back down and soon drifted back to sleep.

After an unknown amount of time, Ryan was again awoken, this time by Troy whose hands were gliding up and down his arm, making Ryan want to fall right back to sleep. Then he felt Troy press small kisses to the back of his neck, on his shoulders, moving to softly nip at the bottom of Ryan's ear.

"Mmm," Ryan moaned. "I could get used to waking up like this." He then rolled over to face his boyfriend who was already awake and active. He was also happy to note that his headache had diminished greatly. It was at that moment he remembered that he did not have a single room and had already been caught in flagrante too many times for his own good.

He began scrambling under the covers, trying to distance himself from Troy at the same time he was trying to turn around to make sure that Kaden hadn't caught him yet again. He felt Troy reach out to pull him back, which just made him struggle harder.

"Ryan," Troy soothed. When Ryan didn't stop struggling, Troy spoke a little more forcefully, "Ryan, he's not here. He left a note on the desk."

At that, Ryan's eyes went directly to the desk where he saw a half sheet of notebook paper. His eyes then darted over to Kaden's bed. Kaden's empty bed. Ryan heaved a great sigh and fell back against his bed and against Troy.

"Every time," Ryan said exasperatedly. "Every time something like that ever happens, he's here, and the one time I actually catch myself, he's not." Ryan just shook his head. It was just his luck.

Troy placed a quick kiss on Ryan's cheek then reached over him to the desk to grab the note Kaden left for them. "Well, let's see what he has to say," Troy said as he grinned down at his pouting boyfriend. He unfolded the scrap of paper and began reading aloud to Ryan.

"Dear Ry (and Troy)," Troy began. He was trying to imitate Kaden's voice, which had Ryan giggling softly. "I have the worst headache ever right now, but I have to go to class. I blame you for this. I'll be out until after noon, then we should go get some lunch. I'll see you two then."

"What time is it now?" Ryan asked.

Troy looked up from the sheet of paper and over to the desk where the clock was sitting. "Hmm," Troy started. "It's about 10 a.m. That gives us two whole hours on our own. Whatever shall we do?" He ended in a seductive purr, leaning in toward Ryan's face, getting close enough to rub his nose against his boyfriend's.

Ryan wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's neck and gave him a soft ghost of a kiss. "I'll let you think about that," Ryan said. "But for now, I'm going to go take a shower." And with that, he scooted out from under Troy and walked over to his closet, rummaging around for his shower bag.

"I have an idea," Troy said as he sat up on the bed and waggled his eyebrow suggestively. "Why don't we take a shower together?"

"I don't know, Troy," Ryan started out hesitantly. "It's not just my bathroom, you know?"

Troy got up from the bed and made his way over to the smaller blond who was still going through his messy closet looking for his towel. He came up behind Ryan and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's waist. "Come on," he whined. "We don't ever get to do stuff like this. Let's just have a little fun before we have to go back to dealing with roommates, classes, frats and everything else." He ended by leaving a small trail of kisses across Ryan's collar bone.

"Fine," Ryan said as he relaxed into Troy's embrace. "You horny, little perv."

"Hey," Troy complained indignantly. "I may be horny, and I may be a perv. But you know that I am anything but little." He punctuated his sentence by thrusting slightly into Ryan's backside.

Ryan bit his lip and moaned softly, but shook the lusty thoughts from his mind as he wiggled out of his boyfriend's grasp. "Ugh," he said as soon as he had gotten free. "Let's just go take the shower."

Troy smiled brightly, but it dimmed a little when Ryan added as a caveat, "But no hanky panky."

The two walked into the bathroom, Troy closing the door while Ryan walked over to the other room's entrance and locked it from the inside. He could deal with being caught in the bed by someone he knew; he would be very embarrassed, but he could deal. He could not, however, deal with being potentially caught completely naked, in the shower with his boyfriend by someone he barely even knew.

Behind him, he heard Troy turning on the water, no doubt adjusting it to a temperature that would be too hot for himself. For some reason, Troy thought the only way he could get clean was to scald himself silly. Ryan would just have to adjust the temperature once he got in. It's not like something he wasn't used to anyway. While this was the first time they would be able to shower together here, it was not the first time ever. Ryan blushed as he thought of the last time they got to spend time together in this way.

His blush deepened when he turned around to see that Troy had already stripped and was standing in the middle of the bathroom in all his glory.

"See something you like?" Troy leered. When Ryan didn't make a move to come closer, he continued, "You know, you could come closer. Or I could just take the shower myself."

Ryan just continued to stare at his boyfriend, taking in Troy's defined muscles. They weren't too big like those gross bodybuilders; they weren't too small either. They were just right. Just deliciously right. He had memorized every detail of Troy's body over the years, and had become far more intimate over the past year, but he still couldn't take his eyes off of him. He began to walk closer, until he was standing a hair's breadth from his now heavily breathing boyfriend.

Troy watched as Ryan walked timidly over to him and he smiled to himself. No matter how many times they had seen each other like this, Ryan still acted like a pure, young virgin. Troy thought it was cute. He loved everything about Ryan — his flat stomach and his lightly muscled chest, his pale skin and always stylish yet soft blond hair and his butt, damn, his perfectly shaped, pert butt. Troy reached over and stuck his thumbs in the band of Ryan's boxer briefs and pulled down slowly.

The grey, cotton briefs pooled around Ryan's ankles and the two young men stood in the bathroom, staring into each other's eyes. Troy moved his hand to brush against Ryan's cheek. Ryan leaned into the slight touch, closed his eyes and sighed. When he reopened his eyes, he smiled. "Let's get into the shower before all the hot water is gone."

Troy nodded and pulled the shower curtain back so the two could step in. He let Ryan get in and then stepped in behind him. The warm water washed over both their bodies allowing their muscles to relax.

Ryan leaned back into Troy's chest as his boyfriend reached for the body wash and the cloth. Troy lathered up the rag and began running it lightly over Ryan's body. Ryan sighed contentedly and allowed his boyfriend to take care of him. He loved the way Troy knew exactly how he needed to be cared for. The cloth found its way below Ryan's waist to clean his more private areas and he gasped leaned his head back on Troy's shoulder.

Troy then positioned them under the spray so that the suds were washed off Ryan's body and down the drain. Ryan turned to face Troy and gave him a long, languid kiss. "Here," Ryan said, motioning to the wash cloth. "Your turn."

Ryan began lathering up the cloth and promptly returning Troy's services. The cloth was soon gliding softly around Troy's nether regions. Troy groaned and leaned over so his mouth was pressed to Ryan's forehead. After a moment, Ryan dropped the cloth, but continued the motions. Troy made another throaty noise and tried, rather weakly, to pull away. "I thought you didn't want to," he said softly.

"Just let me take care of you," Ryan responded, softer still. He continued with the strokes as Troy gave into the sensations he was creating. They continued for several more minutes, soft kisses and moans the only noises being made. Soon, Ryan's strokes sped up and Troy began putting more weight on his boyfriend. Then Troy gave a soft grunt, the evidence of his pleasure washing down the drain just like the water.

Troy rested his head against Ryan's shoulder as he recovered, rotating his head slightly so he could suck on the sweet spot against Ryan's neck. Ryan moaned. He knew it would leave a mark, but he didn't care. He wanted Troy to mark him.

"I love you," Troy whispered.

"I love you, too."

------------------------------------------

After their shower, Troy and Ryan found themselves vegging out on Ryan's bed. Ryan was reading one of the novels for his creative writing class while Troy trudged through his biology text.

"This is so boring," Troy whined as he threw himself into Ryan's lap, causing Ryan's book to fly out of his hands.

Ryan just rolled his eyes. "You're the one who picked science, babe. Personally I think you should have gone with Exercise and Sports Science."

"But that's still science," Troy continued to complain, "Why can't I just study you?" He looked up to bat his eyes cutely.

Ryan laughed and swatted at his boyfriend with the novel he had just recovered. "You study me plenty. But what you need to do in order to keep studying me is to study your textbook … so keep at it."

And that's exactly how Kaden found the two of them, sprawled out on the bed, leaning against one another, both reading their textbooks.

"Wow," Kaden said with mock astonishment. "This is probably the first time that I've walked into the room with both of you in it and both of you completely dressed." Then he placed his hand over his heart and looked up to the sky as if he were tearing up. "I guess college really does change people."

"Oh, shut up," Ryan said as he threw his book at his roommate.

Kaden ducked and missed the book, but he fell back on his bed laughing. Ryan looked over and smiled at his friend. This really was a good roommate combination. He was glad they all felt so comfortable around each other. He just wished Kaden would feel comfortable enough to finally tell Ryan what he had be absolutely dying to hear ever since they all arrived on campus.

"Oh my God," Kaden groaned from his position on the bed. "I'm so fricken hungry! The only thing I remember from my math recitation is that the guy in front of me brought one of those shaker salads with chicken. It looked so good."

Ryan laughed and started pushing Troy off the bed. "Well, then, we better get you fed before you start eating Troy."

"Hey!" Troy protested as he got off the bed. "Why am I the one that gets eaten?"

"Because Ryan's too stringy," Kaden said before Ryan could think of anything. "He's got no meat on those bones."

"Hey!" Ryan gasped. "I take offense to that. I am a prime specimen of the male form."

"That's one statement I can get behind," Troy said as he walked over to Ryan and helped him up off the bed.

"It better be," Ryan said as he wrapped his arms around Troy's neck.

"Okay, you two," Kaden began before they could begin another one of their nauseating love fests. "Can we please go get something to eat before my stomach collapses in on itself?"

The three friends made their way out of the room, down the two flights of stairs to the ground level and out to the courtyard between the residence hall and the dining center. Troy grabbed a hold of Ryan's hand and the two walked in companionable silence with their friend.

When they walked inside, Kaden headed over toward the Americana concept, planning to meet the other two after he had purchased his food.

"I'm going to get one of those bread bowls of soup," Ryan said as he started walking toward the deli section. "What are you going to get?"

Troy began following in Ryan's direction. "I think I'm going to get a sub. A big one."

Ryan laughed and went over to get his lunch. The bread bowls had quickly become Ryan's favorite meal. Especially on Wednesday. Wednesday was potato soup day. Potato soup in a bread bowl was basically sex in meal form for Ryan. Weird? Maybe. Delicious? Definitely.

After Ryan paid for his lunch he made his way over to the booth at which Kaden was already sitting. He plopped down across from his roommate and eyed his lunch. Kaden bought a bacon cheeseburger, a side of onion rings and a chocolate milkshake. The most exciting thing Ryan got were the unfrosted animal crackers. "Damn," he started, "I wish I had your metabolism. I would kill for a chocolate milkshake."

"You know," Kaden said as he picked up the milkshake in question and took a drink. "You shouldn't worry so much about what you eat." When he saw Ryan was about to protest, he added, "I mean, eating healthy is good, but denying yourself everything you want isn't good either."

"You're one to talk about being in denial," Ryan muttered, just loud enough for Kaden to hear.

Kaden perked up at that, "Hey, we are not talking about me or my love life; we're talking about your eating habits. And you could stand to put a little more meat on your bones. You're so …" Kaden said as he made a face and motioned at Ryan's body, "gangly."

"I am not gangly," Ryan protested. "I'm … I'm trim."

"You're gorgeous," Troy said as he sat down next to his boyfriend. "Even though you are a bit skinny."

Ryan just pouted and stared at his soup. Kaden giggled and Troy just looked confused, seeing as how he hadn't heard the beginning of the conversation.

After several long moments of just sitting in silence, Troy nudged Ryan gently in the side. When Ryan looked up from his untouched lunch, he saw Troy grinning and offering his bag of Cheetos. Ryan knew a bribe when he saw it, but he couldn't resist Troy and his puppy dog eyes. He shook his head and grabbed a few of the cheesy chips, setting them down on his tray.

Kaden sat and watched the exchange. He watched as the two communicated silently, as they interacted so comfortably with each other, and as they stole food off each other's plate. Soon, his own food was forgotten and he didn't even realized when Ryan started calling his name. Finally a loud clap brought Kaden back to the real world.

"Earth to Kaden; come in Kaden" Ryan said as he waved his hand in front of his friend's face. "You were off in la-la land for a while. What were you thinking about?"

Kaden blushed at having been caught and before he knew what he was saying, he blurted out, "I want what you have."

Both Ryan and Troy just stared for a moment before coming to their senses. Ryan was the first to speak. "What … what do you mean you want what we have?" he asked. "You mean, like, a relationship? You want one like ours?"

Kaden blushed again and nodded, then Ryan continued, "Well, the first thing we need to get you is a man. A good one. One who's caring, helpful, smart, funny, sexy and romantic. Romantic is key."

Troy just rolled his eyes. Ryan loved to play the matchmaker, but he often forgot that he was trying to set someone up who wasn't him. He reached over and grabbed Ryan's hand, halting Ryan's babbling about the kind of guy Kaden needed. It looked as though Kaden actually had something to say.

"I … well, I think I already found someone," Kaden said softly.

"Who?" Troy questioned.

Kaden took this moment to duck his head and reach his hand to grab the back of his neck as he murmured something that neither Ryan or Troy could quite distinguish. When Troy asked him to repeat it, Kaden blushed even harder, if that was possible, and said more clearly a name that both Troy and Ryan were familiar. "Jeff," he whispered.

"Finally!" Ryan said in exasperation. "He finally admits it."

Troy just laughed and the three friends spent the remainder of their lunch talking and plotting a way to set up Jeff and Kaden on a date. Troy would begin to plant the seeds as soon as he was finished with rush in the evening.

-------------------------------------

"Hey, Troy," Parker said from his spot on the couch. "Nice to see you back and, oh my, it looks like you're in much better spirits today."

Troy chuckled and plopped himself down next to Parker. "Yeah, well," He started, "getting to spend the whole day with your boyfriend will do that for you."

Parker looked over at the brown-haired boy sitting next to him and glared. "Enjoy it while it lasts, stud," he said. "Because when midterms start, you're going to be knee-deep in science crap with no boyfriend in sight."

Troy lost a little of the gleam he held in his eyes as he listened to Parker who in turn noticed the change in Troy's demeanor. "Don't listen to me," Parker said. "I'm just frustrated because I don't get to see my boo very often. I'm just jealous is all."

"Your boo?" Troy questioned as he tried, and failed, to hide his laughter at Parker's nickname for his boyfriend.

"Yeah, boo," Parker said as he cocked his eyebrow. "It's slang for significant other or loved one. You got a problem with nicknames?"

Troy shook his head. "No, I call Ryan babe all the time."

Parker started to laugh, too. "Oh, you're such a manly man. Calling your boyfriend babe. Someone call out the homo patrol. That has got to be the straightest nickname I've ever heard."

Troy blushed and looked away. "Well, Ryan's never complained."

"And why would he when he's got such a big hunk of man like you all to himself?" Parker questioned. "Someone so deliciously altruistic and positive." Parker leaned closer to Ryan and laid a hand on his shoulder. "If I had someone like you, I wouldn't complain about anything, either."

After a few moments of awkward silence, Parker asked, "So what brings you to the Sigma Phi Gamma house on this beautiful day?"

"Well, I just wanted to come by and, you know, accept my bid," Troy said. "I knew you guys weren't supposed to give it to me before and that you guys told me to think about it, and I just, you know, I thought about it enough and I really think this is the best fit for me. I like all the guys here and I just, yeah, I just think this is the right choice for me."

"Well, that was quite the speech," Parker said. "I'm glad you decided to accept, although your visit today was for naught," he finished dramatically.

When Troy only shot Parker a confused look, he replied, "Since we're not allowed to offer bids, we can't really accept them either, so, while I know that you're going to accept, I can't really 'officially' know until the end of the week or else IFC will be all over our asses for 'dirty rush.' Whatever that means. Does that make any sense?"

"No," Troy said, shaking his head. "Not really, but I'll take your word for it."

"As you should, my friend. As you should," Parker said. It looked as though he was going to say something else, but then his phone started to go off. He got an excited look and jumped off the couch. "It's Kyle," he said. "I'm sorry to do this, but I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"It's cool," Troy replied. "I need to be heading back to my dorm room anyway and work on some homework."

Parker made a motion like he was listening, but Troy knew he wasn't really. He was just as preoccupied with his boyfriend as Troy found himself most of the time. He just smiled to himself as he began walking toward his dorm.

-----------------------------------

Jeff was sitting at his desk, working out some kind of problem when Troy walked into their room. He set his bags down by his bureau and moved to take a similar position at his own desk. He had been putting off his Chem Skill-builder for as long as he could, and the assignment was due tomorrow. Damn Ryan for being so tempting, even though he wasn't actually trying.

The two roommates sat, each working in silence for about 20 minutes before Troy couldn't stand it any longer. Apparently chemistry just wasn't that alluring to him. So, he broke the silence. "How was rush for you tonight?" he asked.

Jeff seemed to heave a sigh before turning around to face Troy who was looking back expectantly. "It's going," he said.

"That well, huh?" Troy asked. He knew that Jeff was spending all his time at Chi Delta, and in Troy's opinion, you could only have so much fun at a place like that.

"Yeah," Jeff said as he reached up to scratch his head. "I mean, some of the guys are great and some are pricks. But, hey, it's just like that for everyone who's rushing right?"

Troy didn't say anything, although he didn't think that was how it was supposed to be at all. He just shrugged his shoulders, "You just need to make sure to make a decision that's right for you."

"I know, I know," Jeff replied. "It's just, you know, if I join Chi Delta, even if I don't really like some of the guys that much, I'll still have something to talk about with my dad."

Troy nodded in acknowledgement. Having a connection with a dad, even if it was something you didn't particularly care for, was something that every son always wanted. Troy had found his connection in basketball. Apparently Jeff was looking to find his in joining his father's fraternity.

"How about you?" Jeff questioned. "How are things going with the Sig Gams?"

"Oh man," Troy started as a smile spread across his face. "Things are great. There's this guy named Parker and he's totally awesome. His boyfriend goes to the University of Oregon and he's a Chi Delt down there. All the guys are pretty cool. We played some pool the other night and they offered me a bid …"

"Wait, wait, wait," Jeff interrupted. "They already offered you a bid? I thought they weren't even allowed to do that until tomorrow!?"

Troy groaned inwardly to himself. He wasn't supposed to say anything about that. "Well, I … er … don't say anything to anyone, okay? I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. They just offered it to me last night. I was totally surprised."

"I bet," Jeff said, smiling at the good fortune of his friend. "That's pretty awesome, man. The guys at Chi Delta are just stringing a lot of people along. They can only accept like 20 guys, but they have over 30 still coming around. Thank god I'm pretty much guaranteed a spot because of my dad."

"Yeah, well, how about classes?" Troy asked, trying to change the topic from fraternities.

Jeff pulled a face and looked back at his desk. "Well, this writing class is like the ultimate lame. I have a paper that's due tomorrow — and I have to single space it!" He ended in a tone of voice that made it apparent that Troy knew how awful the assignment would be.

"Ha ha," Troy laughed. "Yeah, Ryan was working on that assignment earlier today. You should really see if he can help you out some time. He is pretty good at this kind of thing."

"I tried to talk him into writing my paper for me earlier, but he wouldn't have it," Jeff complained.

"Well, obviously," Troy said as he laughed. "He's good at it, but he won't do it for you. He's not like that."

"No," Jeff began in an airy voice, "Ryan is the perfect boyfriend, isn't he?"

"Ha ha," Troy laughed out sarcastically, then with a gleam in his eye he turned back around and feigned work on his assignment. "Speaking of boyfriends, however, I've heard it through the grapevine that someone whose name starts with a K and ends with an aden has a little bit of a crush on a certain someone."

Before he even knew what he was saying Jeff's eyes widened and he asked, "What? Who?" Then regaining a bit of the decorum he had forgotten he said, "I mean, so, who's this person Kaden is crushing on?"

"Well, if you really must know," Troy started in a haughty tone. Then he turned around. "It's you."

Jeff's eyes grew comically wide as what Troy had just said sunk in, then he began to stutter, "You … I mean … It's just … wha … really?"

"Yes, you dope," Troy said as he stifled his laughter. "We were talking about it today at lunch and he said that he might have an eensy-weensy, tiny, little crush on you."

Jeff then got a smirk on his face and reached both hands behind his head and lifted his legs to prop them up on his desk. "That's cool, I guess," he said. He lost some of the air of coolness he was going for when his legs slipped off the desk and drew his whole body forward, almost slipping off the chair.

Troy just shook his head. Jeff was so oblivious sometimes. Okay, well, most of the times.

"Yeah, kind of cool," Troy said. "He even said he'd consider going on a date if a certain someone would man up and ask him."

"Whoa, dude," Jeff said, now looking a bit frightened. "I don't … I don't know if I could do something like that."

Troy rolled his eyes. This was now officially getting old. "Whatever, man. If you don't act soon, someone else is going to figure out what a great guy Kaden is and they're going to get to him before you can pull your head out of your ass."

With that, Troy got out of his seat and began rummaging through his closet. He pulled out his bathroom caddy. As he made his way past Jeff and to the bathroom, he turned to his roommate, "Think about it. You don't have forever."

**A/N: Okay … so one more thing from me. I just wanted to thank everyone who's kept on reviewing. All of your feedback means so much to me. I've been thinking about what a few of you have been saying and there are several ideas floating around through my head about a prequel about how the boys actually ended up together. That being said, this story is still far from over, so I won't be starting on it for a while. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please review!!**


	9. Chapter 9

Troy and Jeff walked a few paced behind Ryan and Kaden as they headed from the quad of residence halls toward the restaurant at which they decided to have dinner.

Ryan decided that it would be fun to have a weekly dinner between the four friends and Friday seemed to provide the perfect opportunity. They all met up in front of Jeff and Troy's dorm when Kaden got out of class. He, unfortunately, had class until 5 p.m. every Friday, which kind of dictated when dinner would commence, but it was all good. It gave them all an opportunity to unwind from their first week of classes.

When all four of them finally got together, Jeff and Kaden had acted very shyly toward one another, presumably because of the information each of them had learned about the other. Ryan noticed this immediately, and after giving Troy a quick kiss hello, he grabbed a hold of Kaden's arm and began walking in the direction of the restaurant. These boys would be the death of him.

Luckily, everything that was not located directly on campus was within walking distance and so the four friends enjoyed a nice, leisurely walk. Ryan and Kaden were goofing off, both singing one of their mutual favorite songs, "Give it to Me" by Timbaland.

Ryan had taken the Nelly Furtado part, while Kaden went through Justin Timberlake's. They continued to walk, sing and occasionally break out into a mini dance. Troy always found it funny when Ryan decided to imitate a pop star. The head bobs, hip shakes and rolling of his torso always brought back memories of Ryan on stage and of how Troy loved to watch his boyfriend do what he loved most.

Troy and Jeff almost ran into the other two boys when they had suddenly stopped for Ryan to "drop it like it was hot." Troy still didn't understand why it was called that, but he had to admit that whenever Ryan did it, he wanted to drag his boyfriend off to the nearest corner and, as the British say, snog him senseless.

"Ha," Jeff laughed, watching Ryan perform his moves and then continue with Kaden down the street. "Your boyfriend's got some moves."

Troy laughed along with his roommate, "Yeah, he's got a lot more, too." Then leaning over to his roommate to whisper conspiratorially, he added, "He used to live on the stage back in high school. They called him the 'drama king.'"

Jeff laughed and Ryan turned back to glare at the two of them. "What rumors are you spreading about me now, Bolton?" he asked.

"Nothing," Jeff said before Troy had the chance to defend himself. "Absolutely nothing, your highness."

Ryan gasped and then stomped back to Troy. "You told him, didn't you?" he asked, poking Troy in the chest with an accusatory finger. "You told him about that god-awful nickname, didn't you? I can't believe you, Troy Bolton!"

Jeff chose this moment to walk away from the confrontation and move closer to Kaden. "Looks like you opened up a can of worms there, Jeff," Kaden said as he smirked and continued to watch Troy look shameful at Ryan's rebuke.

"I guess I just don't know when to keep my mouth shut," Jeff responded.

"That's not always a bad thing," Kaden said, then blushed as he realized another way his simple statement could be taken.

Jeff blushed as well and chuckled before asking awkwardly, "So … how were classes?"

"Oh, you know," Kaden said. "They were classes. Nothing special, except for the fact that I'll probably end up failing math because I can barely understand my instructor."

"Ah," Jeff said, understanding exactly what Kaden was talking about. "Yeah, I've heard a lot of people complaining about that. If you ever need any help, though, I could help. Math has always come pretty easy to me."

"My hero," Kaden said. "At least one of us gets it."

The two continued to stand there, in a comfortable silence, as they watched the other two boys work out their problem. They could tell all was forgiven when Troy grabbed one of Ryan's hands and leaned down for a quick kiss. Kaden let out a small sigh, and when Jeff looked over, he could see a goofy looking grin plastered on Kaden's face. It caused a funny feeling to settle itself in the bottom of his stomach. He really couldn't identify what it was, but he knew he liked it.

They watched as Ryan and Troy walked hand-in-hand back to them and then continued on their way to the restaurant. This time with Jeff and Kaden walking in front of Troy and Ryan, who were walking far enough back so as to be able to carry on a quiet conversation about their friends who seemed to be losing some of the cluelessness that had been characteristic of them ever since they had met each other.

"Oh, look," Ryan said. "They're being all nice and not awkward anymore."

Troy, who had been focused mainly on the comforting feeling of having his boyfriend right next to him, looked forward and laughed. They may have been acting less awkward, but they were still being stupid boys. Troy noticed that every now and again, their friend's hands would accidentally brush up against each other. When that happened, they would jerk away from each other, glance and then blush fiercely. It was cute and frustrating at all at the same time.

"Do you think they'll ever get a clue?" Troy asked his boyfriend who just laid his head on his shoulder and continued walking.

"Well, I think Kaden is finally coming to his senses," Ryan said. "I mean, he did finally admit to us that he had a crush on Jeff, not that we didn't know." Troy laughed as he listened to Ryan ramble on about their two friends. He wasn't so much paying attention to what Ryan was actually saying, but being soothed more by Ryan's calming voice. He did tune back in however, when the conversation turned more toward Jeff.

"It's your roommate we have to worry about," Ryan said, lifting his head off Troy's shoulder. "I'm not so sure about how confident he is regarding his sexuality. I don't want Kaden to be his experiment, you know?"

Troy nodded, it was something he had been thinking about, too. "I know what you mean," he started, "but if you could have seen the look on his face when I told him that Kaden liked him, you'd totally be able to tell that Jeff has it just as bad for Kaden as Kaden does for him."

"I guess," Ryan said hesitantly, "but having the feelings only goes so far with a relationship between two guys. You know that."

"Yeah," Troy agreed. "I just hope that Jeff is strong enough to handle the pressure he'll get from the guys in his house."

"I still don't understand why you didn't tell him the reason you chose not to go back to Chi Delta," Ryan sighed, putting his head back on Troy's shoulder.

"I thought about it," Troy said. "But I know how much he wanted to join the house, because of his dad, and me telling him that wouldn't have made anything better. He probably still would have joined."

"But shouldn't you have at least given him the information so he could make the decision?" Ryan asked. "I think he deserves that much."

Troy sighed. He really didn't want to talk about this. "Look," he said. "Can we not talk about fraternity stuff right now? I don't get to spend nearly as much time with you as I'd like and I don't want to spend the time I do get talking about fraternities."

Ryan gripped Troy's hand tighter, a silent agreement to let the conversation die a quiet death. They continued to walk for several more minutes, each contemplating the challenges that awaited their two friends if they decided to have a relationship, although, Ryan had to admit, at the pace they were going, they would graduate before they got that far.

They were somewhat startled out of their thoughts when they heard Kaden in front of them announce they were almost to the restaurant.

"Finally," Troy muttered. "I'm starving."

"When are you not?" Ryan joked as he poked his boyfriend in the side.

------------------------------------

Ryan dug his fork into the moist cake with gusto. The group of friends had been finished with dinner for a while now, and Ryan and Kaden were splitting desert. One of those massive ice cream cake concoctions. It was massive, but damned if the two friends would leave any traces of it on the plate.

Actually, they were coming down the very ends of the desert, which meant it was getting kind of competitive between the two as to who would be able to get the last bits of the delicious desert. Ryan had just secured the last bit of cake, while Kaden took the maraschino cherry. All that was left on the plate was some of the chocolate syrup. Kaden and Ryan both noticed at the same time, and both got evil looks in their eyes. Their forks at the ready, both reached out at the same time to get as much as they could before the other.

The clanking of silverware on the ceramic plate, brought Jeff and Troy out of their conversation on the state of the school's athletic program just in time to see Ryan's fork fly to his mouth. Having been stuck in mortal battle with Kaden, Ryan didn't have much control over his silverware and the utensil landed on the side of Ryan's face, along with all of his precious chocolate syrup.

"What are you?" Troy said as he took in the appearance of his boyfriend, a stern look gracing his features, "five years old?"

Try as he might, Troy couldn't keep the reproachful look on his face and he broke out into a smile as he grabbed his napkin to help his boyfriend clean up his face. When the dry napkin didn't seem to be able to handle the job, Troy dipped it in his glass of water before wiping it across his boyfriend's face.

"I feel like I'm your mother right now," Troy said. "It's not a feeling I enjoy."

"Well," Ryan replied. "Would I do this to my mother?"

With that he took Troy's face in his hands and crashed their lips together, making sure to get as much chocolate on Troy's face as was covering his all while enjoying a nice big kiss.

"Mmm," Troy mumbled as he pulled away from Ryan. "Tastes like chocolate. Really sexy chocolate."

Ryan grinned and leaned in to peck Troy on the lips a few more times. He was stopped by the discreet cough from across the table. When he looked at the person who had taken his attention from his boyfriend, he couldn't help but laugh.

Sitting across the table, was a furiously blushing Kaden, who also had chocolate on his face. Apparently he had seen what Ryan and Troy were doing and had begun thinking similar thoughts, only involving a certain someone else.

"Here," Ryan said, handing over a wet napkin so that Kaden could begin to clean himself up. "Why don't you try and be a little bit presentable, Kaden. We're at a respectable establishment."

Kaden rolled his eyes at Ryan's sarcastic comment, but accepted the napkin and began wiping his face of the offending sugary sauce.

Jeff was finally able to shake himself out of his thoughts of doing to Kaden exactly what Troy had done to Ryan, as he watched the chocolate disappear from the blond boy's face. In order to clear his mind of the very explicit visual, he began mumbling to himself which eventually formed a sentence, one that no one else could understand, however.

"What did you say?" Troy asked his roommate.

"Oh, I uh, I was wondering if you guys wanted to go see a movie tomorrow evening." Jeff said. "We were having a great time tonight and it sucks that we have to cut it short because of rush, and since we don't have anything tomorrow night, I just thought it would be cool for all of us to hang out."

"That would be great," Kaden replied, having finally removed the last bits of chocolate sauce from his face.

The two then turned to look expectantly at Troy and Ryan. Ryan looked to Troy and gave him a quick nudge when it appeared as though he wasn't going to say anything.

"Oh, well, actually," Troy started, putting his arm around Ryan. "I actually promised Ryan I would take him out on a date tomorrow. We haven't gotten to do that recently, and I don't know what my schedule is going to be after tonight, so I thought I'd just spend the evening with him."

"Oh, that's cool," Jeff said, obviously let down a little bit.

Noticing his friend's morose tone, Kaden jumped in, "That's okay," he began, turning to look at Jeff. "We can still go. It'll be fun."

Jeff looked to Kaden and then back at his empty plate, blushing and nodding slightly, "Yeah, that'd be cool."

Ryan shot Troy a knowing look. Troy then looked at his watch and said, "Whoa, we're going to be late if we don't hurry."

Jeff checked his watch, too, then hurried to get his wallet out of his pocket. He pulled out a $10 bill and put it on the table, "That should cover me."

Troy did the same and added, "Sorry we have to dine and dash, fellas, but we have to hurry. Rush week waits for no one." He pushed his chair back and stood up, leaning down to give Ryan a kiss goodbye. He then joined Jeff who had already started putting his jacket on and moving toward the door.

Ryan watched as the two left the restaurant and as soon as he saw the door close shut, he looked back to Kaden with wide eyes. "You know what this means, don't you?" he asked his seemingly oblivious friend.

Kaden's eyes darted around as if looking for the answer, then focused on Ryan who was still looking excitedly at his friend. "Uh, no?"

"You totally have a date tomorrow!" Ryan practically yelled. Several of the other patrons in the restaurant turned to look at the loud teenager.

"Oh, I do not," Kaden said, waving his hand dismissively at his exuberant friend. Although, he had to admit to himself that he hadn't fully realized the fact that he and Jeff would be going to a movie alone, together, when he had proposed that they go without Troy and Ryan. Dating was so confusing.

"You do, too," Ryan said adamantly. "Oh my gosh! We have to go and pick out what you're going to wear tomorrow. You need to dress to impress my friend."

And with that, Ryan signaled for the check. Kaden sighed to himself. Maybe this whole thing would turn out to me more date-like than he had originally anticipated. He could feel the anxious, anticipatory, almost-going-to-throw-up-but-not feeling forming in the pit of his stomach.

It was going to be a fun, but long, evening.

------------------------------------

Troy slowly pushed open the door to his room. Even the small creak of the door made his head throb violently. Last night had been amazingly fun, but he sure was paying for it this morning. As soon as he stepped foot in the room, he was confronted with the stench of alcohol and knew that Jeff was back as well.

As he turned the corner, he looked and saw Jeff on his bed, sprawled out on his back. He looked as bad as Troy felt. He had marker all over his body, and his clothes looked stretch, torn and dirty. Troy continued walking over to his friend's bed and then plopped down on the foot of it. He just sighed and stared off into the distance.

Then he turned and said to his roommate, "So, last night?"

Jeff looked up at him and replied with a vague, "Yeah."

"You look a little worse for wear than I do, though," Troy laughed as he took in exactly what was written all over his roommate's face. There was a drawing of a penis on the side of his face as well as several choice phrases. Also, across his forehead was a big, bold 'LAME.' Jeff was definitely going to have to spend some time in the shower today. "What happened to you anyway," Troy asked.

"Oh, you mean the drawings?" Jeff asked. At Troy's nod, he continued, "Well, we were all drinking and apparently the first person to pass out or fall asleep gets drawn all over — chiefing, they call it."

"So, you didn't last long, eh?" Troy asked, grinning at his friend's lack of tolerance.

"Shut up," Jeff said, clearly not amused. "I already got enough crap from all the guys at the house."

"Speaking of all the crap you apparently got," Troy said, finally bringing up the state of Jeff's clothes, "what the hell happened to your clothes? It looks like you were drug through a mud pit."

"Oh, that," Jeff said, still not looking any more pleased. "I can't talk about it, something about it being the first part of my initiation into the chapter."

"Oh," Troy said, still confused. "We didn't do anything like that. We just drank. A lot. Have you ever played flip cup or beer pong before?"

"How do you think I got like this," Jeff said, motioning all over his body. "I found out that I'm not exactly what you would call 'good' at drinking games, and so did everyone else. They kept making me play, anyway. I think that's why I was the first to pass out." Scratching his head and thinking back to the festivities from last night, he added, "I don't think I even made it more than three hours."

Troy laughed, and then put his head in his hands. It was still too early to do anything as strenuous as laughing. God, why did he have to drink so much last night? "I'm apparently the new house beer pong champ. It's just like basketball."

"Well, good for you," Jeff said disdainfully. "Now, get off my bed. I have a hangover to nurse." He started kicking his foot at Troy, slowly nudging him off.

"I'm going, I'm going," Troy said as he slowly lifted himself off the bed and gingerly began making his way across the room. He, too, had a hangover that would have to be slept off.

After lying himself down, he reached over to his alarm clock and set it to give him enough time to get ready for his date with Ryan. Even though Ryan was understanding of many things, breaking — or even being late for — a date was not one of the things he tended to be understanding of. He wouldn't want to be late anyway, he had been working to plan something special for his date tonight.

That reminded him of something else, something he really needed to talk about with Jeff. He turned on his side, to face his roommate who was still lying on his bed awake, but hardly moving. He laughed to himself. Whatever he was feeling, he was sure Jeff was feeling it ten times more.

"Hey, don't forget," Troy said, "you have to get ready for your date with Kaden tonight. You don't want him thinking you're a slob."

Jeff sighed and rolled over on his bed. "It's not a date," he said as he rolled his eyes.

"Oh, it most definitely is," Troy rebutted. "You asked him to the movies, and now you're going, all by yourselves."

"I asked everyone," Jeff said, still not agreeing to the notion that it was a date. "We're just going to see a movie."

"You don't get it, do you?" Troy asked, propping his head up on his fist. "As soon as we left the bar, Ryan started planning exactly what Kaden would be wearing tonight so as to impress you." Then rolling on his back and putting his hands behind his head, he finished, "No matter what you meant last night, it's a date now."

"How are you so sure?" Jeff questioned. "What makes you think Kaden will buy into this?"

"You haven't interacted much with Ryan, have you?" Troy chuckled. "This is just how he works. You have a date tonight, my friend, and there is nothing you can do about it."

After a few moment's pause, Jeff sighed his acceptance. "Well, I guess, if it has to be a date, at least it's with Kaden."

Troy rolled his eyes and threw one of his pillows at his roommate.

"Hey!" Jeff protested. "I have a hangover, what are doing throwing things at me?"

"You also have your head stuck up your ass," Troy said. He was tired of this never-ending back and forth with Jeff and his feelings for Kaden. "I thought the shock might help you get it out of there. You like Kaden. I know it, you know it, hell even Ryan knows it. Why don't you just stop fighting it and just enjoy yourself?"

Jeff glared at his roommate for a few seconds before lying back down on his back in order to think about what the night held for him. Troy didn't know it, but when Jeff dozed back to sleep, it was with a small smile playing across his face.

---------------------------------

Ryan sat on a bench in the main quad on campus, waiting for Troy. He hadn't seen or heard from him since he left the restaurant. He was so used to talking to Troy whenever and wherever he wanted, he wasn't so sure he liked this lack of communication thing. He was taking solace in the fact that he would be spending the whole evening with Troy, by themselves. And on a real date, no less.

He sat on the bench, thinking to himself for several more minutes before he saw Troy walking up the sidewalk. He smiled in the direction of his boyfriend, but didn't move to get up until Troy was standing right in front of him.

He get up and gave Troy a quick hug, before grasping his hand and beginning their walk through campus.

"So, how was last night?" Ryan asked. "Any bouts of debauchery you want to tell me about before I find out over the Internet?"

Troy laughed and brought Ryan closer to him. "No," he started. "No debauchery. I did find out, however, that I'm very adept at beer pong."

"Oh good," Ryan said. "Another sport you're good at." Then he began fanning himself. "I'm so lucky to be dating someone who's so talented at so many useful things."

Troy laughed again and the two continued to walk in companionable silence. It was nice, just being in the presence of one another without having to think about anything else. And the campus was absolutely gorgeous. They passed several hundred-year-old brick buildings, each housing it's own academic program. There were trees everywhere and large open fields. It was just like a park.

"Oh," Ryan spoke up after several minutes. "I forgot to mention this to you yesterday, but I got a phone call from Sharpay yesterday. It looks like my family is coming to visit in a few weeks. They want to see everything, and they want to see what you're up to, too."

Troy had a very good relationship with the rest of Ryan's family. After they had been assured that Troy was not just using Ryan, they had warmed up whole-heartedly to the brown haired boy. They treated him just like one of the family. Often, Ryan's dad would talk shop and sports with Troy as Ryan just sat and listened. They actually had weekly golf game set up when they were back home. And Ryan's mom doted on Troy just as if she were one of her own. Then there was Sharpay. Sharpay was still Sharpay, but she had toned down considerably since the two had gotten together.

"Well that's good," Troy said. "It'll be nice to see them all again. And I'm sure your mother has missed her 'little ducky' ever so much since you've left."

"Ugh," Ryan moaned. "Do you have to bring that up? Do you think she'll call me that in front of other people here?"

Troy laughed. He knew Ryan was just putting on an act. He loved his mother more than anything else, and would let her call him anything. He also knew that he missed his family tremendously, even if he hadn't said anything out loud.

"She probably will," he said. "And you'll love it."

Ryan blushed and turned his head away from Troy. His boyfriend knew him all too well.

They continued walking through campus, and the sun was beginning to set, casting a pinkish-orange hue to everything. It was also beginning to get a bit cooler, making Ryan eager to get inside somewhere.

"Well," Ryan began, smiling at his boyfriend, "don't you think we ought to get going? It's date night."

The smile on Ryan's face faltered somewhat when Troy didn't say anything, and instead of answering, he looked away. "Actually, I have to head over to the fraternity house for a few minute," Troy said. "I just have to go pick up a few things and sign something."

"Troy," Ryan whined. "It's date night. You promised."

"I know," Troy said, trying to placate his upset boyfriend. "And it still is, we just have to put it off for about a half hour."

Ryan still looked despondent, even after Troy's assurance that date night would indeed still happen, so Troy stopped him and pulled him around so they were facing each other.

"Ry," he started. "I promise, tonight will still be date night. We'll still have a great time. I promise. No frat stuff is going to get in the way of that."

"I know," Ryan sighed. "It's just … I don't know. You know?"

Troy chuckled, "No, not really, but I'll take your word for it." He leaned down and gave Ryan a soft kiss. "I'll meet you back at your room in 30 minutes. Be ready, okay?"

"Okay," Ryan smiled softly. "You better not be late."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Troy said, then took off at a fast jog, so he could get everything taken care of and still make it back in time.

Ryan stood there for several more seconds, watching Troy run off. He hoped this wouldn't be indicative of what was to come with all of the new things they were starting to do. He then pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He had a half hour to kill and some serious venting to do. He opened the phone and dialed his sister's number.

**A/N: So, there's another chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. The next chapter is going to be all Jeff and Kaden on their first date. I don't know how many of you will like that, so it's going to be followed up with Troy and Ryan's date. After that, things should start picking up plot-wise. Now that a lot of the intro information and relationship building is done, we can start getting to the good stuff. Please read and review!!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: So, I know this was just going to be about Kaden and Jeff's date, but my imagination ran away with me and I included Troy and Ryan's date as well. Actually, my imagination really ran away with me and there is something a little extra for you all at the end. I hope you all like it.**

Kaden had been sitting on the edge of his bed for the last 10 minutes waiting for Jeff to arrive. He was dressed in exactly what he and Ryan had decided on, his hair was styled and he was nervous as hell.

He sat picking at the invisible lint on his dark green zip up jacket. Then he fiddled with the bill of his knit hat. He didn't want to put it on until he got outside. Actually, he didn't want to wear it at all, but Ryan said it completed the outfit. He had to admit, too, that he did look pretty good when the whole outfit was on his body. If Ryan knew one thing, it was how to make someone look good.

He laughed, his roommate was so funny sometimes. So prissy and high maintenance, but one of the best people you would ever meet. His heart was as big as his head and he definitely watched out for the people he loved.

Kaden found that he really enjoyed being a part of Ryan's close network of friends. He never really had any of that back home. Sure, he'd had friends, but none to whom he could really tell anything and everything. He could do that with Ryan, and he liked it. He liked it a lot. Which was probably the only reason why he put up with his roommate trying to dress him.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that the knock at the door, which wasn't very loud to begin with, startled him a bit. Finding himself all the more nervous now that the date was actually upon him, Kaden stood up and took a deep breath before walking over to the door, opening it slowly, not wanting to seem too anxious.

Jeff took in Kaden's appearance, once he stepped into view. "Wow," Jeff breathed out. "You look g— I mean, those clothes look good on you," he caught himself.

Kaden blushed slightly, and then leaned over to turn the light to his room off before closing the door behind him. "You don't look so bad yourself," Kaden commented on Jeff's appearance, wondering slightly if Ryan had also gone over to his room, too, to help him out. He wouldn't put it past his roommate.

"So, where are we going?" Kaden asked. He really hadn't had a chance to get the lay of the land yet, and was totally relying on Jeff to be able to get them to their destination.

"Well," Jeff started. "I thought we could stop by Pita Pit. It's on the way, and I haven't had a chance to get anything to eat — unless, of course, you want to go somewhere else, or don't like pitas or anything …" Jeff trailed off, becoming flustered.

"Pitas are just fine," Kaden said. When Jeff still didn't move, Kaden started again, "We should probably go. Those pitas won't order themselves."

Jeff chuckled nervously, and then moved back so Kaden could begin walking toward the elevator and lead them out of the building. If anything, this would definitely prove to be an interesting night.

-----------------------------

The two were just finishing their pitas as they walked up to the front of the theater. Kaden hadn't realized how hungry he'd been until he bit into his chicken caesar pita. He smiled inwardly as he thought about their stop at the restaurant. Jeff had insisted on buying his food for him. It was probably because of the long line and a single order would be the quickest and easiest way to get out of the place, but Kaden liked to think it had been Jeff's way of being the man of the date. He thought it was cute.

Kaden took in the front of the theater as the walked toward it. The building looked like one of those old time theaters, with the marquee jutting out in front of the structure with big, flashing neon lights.

Actually, he found it funny mostly because the name of the theater was "The Princess," which was displayed proudly in large, pink neon lights above the marquee.

As the two walked inside, Kaden felt like he was thrown even more into the past. The inside of the theater was done in dark woods and deep red velvet wall hangings. The staff wore the silly looking red vests with the black bow ties and stood behind an old-fashioned box office. It was all very 1920s. Kaden loved it.

Again, Jeff insisted on paying for the ticket, and Kaden wasn't about to put up a fight. They had decided on their way from the residence hall that they would go see the new thriller movie that had just opened up that day. Kaden wasn't all too sure about it, but he saw how excited Jeff was, and decided he would just put on a brave face and try not to scream too loudly when something "thrilling" happened.

As Jeff paid for the tickets, Kaden went up to the snack counter and ordered popcorn and two Cokes for them. He was able to pay before Jeff even got to the counter, so he didn't feel like he was mooching too much.

"That's yours," Kaden said, nodding to the Coke that was sitting on the counter, as Jeff walked up to him. "I already paid for it, so don't worry about it," he added when he saw that Jeff was about to reach for his wallet.

Jeff smiled and grabbed the refreshment. He furrowed his brow after a second, thinking about something. "How did you know that I wanted a Coke?" he asked.

At that, Kaden blushed and muttered something about being observant, before quickly changing the topic and asking where they needed to go to get to the correct theater. Jeff led them down the dimly lit hallway and into one of the rooms off to the side.

The dark room was empty, and they decided to sit in the back toward the center. The best seats in the house, Jeff called them. Kaden was just glad that no one would be able to sneak up behind them and scare him during the middle of the movie. The last thing he needed to do was to embarrass himself in front of Jeff now.

They sat around chatting for several minutes before the lights went down and the previews started. Kaden went silent as the film started rolling; the previews were his favorite part of the whole movie experience.

Jeff took the few moments before the movie to take in Kaden's features. Kaden was so focused on the screen in front of him that he didn't notice as Jeff stared at him for over five minutes. Jeff was transfixed as the light shining from the screen reflected off Kaden's smiling face. He really was sight to behold, and if Jeff thought about it really hard, he was everything he could possibly want.

It was so easy to admit to himself, here in the darkness of the theater, that this young man was what his heart desired. Away from the outside influences, his family, his fraternity and society in general, Jeff could be free to do and feel whatever he wanted. If only every situation could allow him to feel this way he would not need to hide his feelings, he wouldn't need to keep having to lie to himself and others and he could be free to love whom he wanted.

He continued staring at Kaden, even as the movie began. He was so caught up in looking at his partner that he actually screamed when Kaden grabbed a hold of his hand.

"Sorry," Kaden whispered with a slight tremble in his voice. "I got scared."

Jeff had no idea what was happening with the movie, but he wasn't about to argue. Whatever it was that had gotten Kaden to take his hand was a good thing in his book. He looked down at their two hands, and when Kaden made no move to take his hand back, Jeff made a knee-jerk reaction and tightened his grip.

Kaden, who felt the movement, looked down at their now intertwined hands and blushed, then he looked up to Jeff and smiled. Jeff smiled back. The two continued to stare at each other for several moments until his attention was drawn back to the movie. Jeff continued to stare for several more seconds before, he, too, began watching the film.

Their hands stayed intertwined for the remainder of the movie.

------------------------------------

Jeff dumped the trash in the garbage can as the two exited the theater. They were still holding hands, and Kaden couldn't be happier. The two walked slowly to the doors leading out of the building, talking quietly about the movie. As they got closer to the door, Kaden could begin to tell that Jeff was getting more nervous, just by the way his palm was starting to sweat.

As soon as they reached the door, Jeff discretely let go of Kaden's hand. Kaden was disappointed, of course, but he didn't say anything. What right did he have to question Jeff's actions, anyway?

The air was cool and the sun was well on its way down. Kaden took his knit cap out of his back pocket and placed it on his head.

"That looks good on you," Jeff said. Kaden blushed at the compliment and bowed his head. The two continued walking back toward campus, talking periodically followed by random bouts of silence. The slicences, however, were not awkward. They were more comfortable than anything else.

They reached Kaden's building fairly quickly. Kaden walked up to the main door and Jeff followed closely behind. When Kaden actually reached the door, he took out his keys, but hesitated before actually unlocking it. He turned around quickly, catching Jeff off guard and almost knocking him backward.

"I really had a great time, Jeff," Kaden said, looking at Jeff from under the fringe of his hair. He looked so cute and vulnerable.

"I did, too," Jeff said. "We'll have to do something again … soon."

Kaden smiled and nodded his head. He looked back up at Jeff who was just standing there looking so cute. He wondered what would happen if he just leaned over and placed a quick kiss on his moist, red lips.

Before he knew what he was doing, he was already kissing Jeff. He pulled away quickly after realizing what he had started. His eyes were wide because he didn't know how Jeff was going to react. When he saw that Jeff's eyes were still closed, he smiled and raised his hand to place it on Jeff's cheek.

"I really did have a great time," he whispered again, then opened the door and walked into his building.

Jeff stood, staring blankly at the door for several moments before he turned and began walking back to his own room, a silly grin plastered on his face. This had definitely been a good night.

---------------------------------

True to his word, Troy had been back in 30 minutes flat. He stopped by Ryan's building and dialed his boyfriend's number. Within seconds, Ryan was outside, looping his arm in Troy's.

The two began walking uptown, within several minutes they were coming up to a restaurant Ryan had never been to, but by the looks of it, dining there would come at quite a price.

"Oh my gosh, Troy," Ryan started as the got closer. "Are we eating here?" At Troy's nod, Ryan began putting up the usual protests, "Troy, no. This is way too expensive. We can just go somewhere else and get a sandwich or something. Just because it's date night doesn't mean you have to spend every cent you've got. Please, let's just go somewhere else."

Troy just shook his head. "Look, you're my boyfriend," he said as he placed a kiss on the top of Ryan's head. "And if I want to spoil you, I'll spoil you. So don't argue and let's go have a good time."

Ryan smiled. He still didn't want Troy to spend so much, but he knew that Troy would be happy just by doing this, and really, who was he to turn down a good meal and a fancy restaurant?

The two were sat at a private table near the rear of the restaurant. They were served a meal, that had been prepared before they had even arrived, and all of Ryan's favorite foods. Troy had put a lot of time into this, and the effort made Ryan love his boyfriend all the more.

They talked about classes, they talked about friends back home, they talked about new friends and they just sat and stared at each other. Anyone walking past the table could tell the two were in love, if not by the way their hands could often be found holding each other's, then by they way each of the two young men looked at the other.

Troy and Ryan finished dinner at a leisurely pace, both enjoying each other's company, which they had both been lacking over the last week. Once they had finished, Troy paid the check without letting Ryan see the tab. Ryan was a bit chagrined, but promised Troy that he would be paid back in full. Troy blushed at the suggestive look that accompanied the comment.

Once they left the restaurant, Ryan had assumed they would be heading back to campus and started walking that way. He was stopped by Troy's hand on his shoulder as he told him they had one more stop before the evening was through.

Ryan was again confronted by a sight he did not expect as the couple headed toward a local hotel. And not just any hotel, but the nicest in town.

"What are we doing here?" Ryan asked, looking at Troy expectantly.

"Well, I wanted to spend the night with you," Troy answered rather ambiguously.

"We could have spent the night at either of our dorms, Troy," Ryan responded. He really didn't want Troy spending any more money than he already had, which was still too much. "Why are we here?"

"I wanted to spend a night with you, where we didn't have to worry about anyone walking in on us, where we could just be together — away from everyone," Troy said seriously, then leaned down to whisper in his boyfriend's ear. "Where we could be as loud as we want."

Ryan blushed at Troy's last comment and buried his face into his boyfriend's chest. You couldn't really argue with logic like that. And so he put up no protest as Troy led him into the hotel, past the clerk's desk and up to their room.

He gasped when Troy led him into the room. There was a large, luxurious king-sized bed in the middle of the room, a breakfast nook near the window and a vase full of roses set on the center of the table. As Ryan walked further into the room, he noticed the roses on the bed.

"Oh, Troy," Ryan gasped. "This is all so much. I can't believe you did all of this — and without me even knowing." Then he walked over and gave Troy a deep, lingering kiss, his tongue gently massaging Troy's lips until he opened his mouth. The two stood their, kissing for several moments just enjoying the taste of one another until Troy pulled back.

"You deserve everything, Ryan." Troy said in the most serious of tones. "I promise, everything you ever want, I will do my damnedest to give to you."

Ryan just looked into Troy's eyes, knowing he was saying the truth. "All I want is you, Troy," he said quietly. "Just you."

Troy grinned at that and then led his boyfriend over to the waiting bed. He began undoing Ryan's shirt, button by button, never losing eye contact with Ryan. Soon, both of them were standing shirtless. Then Troy began working on Ryan's pants. He undid the belt with practiced ease and then unfastened the button. Within seconds, Ryan's jeans lay pooled on the floor. He stood in front of Troy in only his light blue boxer briefs. Troy ran his fingers along the elastic band before sticking his thumbs in and slowly pulled them down.

The two kept eye contact before Troy looked his boyfriend over. Ryan was beautiful. He would never get tired of looking at the blond just like that. Ryan leaned in to kiss his boyfriend and then sat back on the bed.

"You have too many clothes on," Ryan said seductively. That was all the hint Troy needed and within seconds, he was as nude as his boyfriend.

He stood near the bed for a moment, letting Ryan take him in, just as he had, and then crawled on the bed, right on top of his boyfriend. The two kissed, their hands roaming all over the other's body. Ryan's hands glided down the sinewy back of his boyfriend and over the curve of his pert butt. He pulled Troy's body closer to his, causing their groins to come into contact, at which moment Troy let out a breathy moan into Ryan's mouth.

Troy then broke the kiss, leaving Ryan panting on the bed. He smiled at his boyfriend and then began leaving a trail of kisses down his body, over his smooth chest, down his flat stomach leading down past his belly button and then moving down to Ryan's hip, bypassing the flexure of his boyfriend's legs.

Ryan let out a groan of annoyance. Troy always did like to tease him like this.

After placing several soft kisses at the juncture of Ryan's hips, he moved down to his goal. He lifted Ryan's hard length up and gently slid his mouth over the crown. Ryan let out a soft cry of pleasure as Troy engulfed his entire length.

Troy began humming as he moved up and down Ryan's cock. Ryan didn't have the largest of endowments, but he was by no means small. In fact, the size was just perfect for Troy to pleasure him like this. And boy did he like pleasuring Ryan like this.

Ryan began to buck his hips, signaling to Troy that he had better slow down, or this would be finished all too soon. Troy pulled Ryan from his mouth and let it fall back to rest against Ryan's stomach.

"You like?" Troy questioned, as if he really needed to ask.

"Definitely," Ryan breathed out. "But I'd like something else more." He then held out his hands indicating for Troy to come up to him.

Troy moved deftly up the bed so he was face to face with his boyfriend. Ryan felt Troy's hard length pressing against his thigh and smiled. He remembered the first time he and Troy had done anything. He had been so nervous. And when he first saw Troy fully nude and hard, that nervousness had increased. His boyfriend was not small by any stretch of the imagination.

At first, Ryan didn't know if he would be able to fit it all in his mouth or in … well, you know. But they had gone slow, and it had turned out to be the most wonderful experience of his life. Only to be surpassed each and every time he and Troy were intimate with one another.

Ryan reached down to gently tug on his boyfriend's length. Troy closed his eyes and his breath hitched as Ryan began working his cock up and down, bringing him to full hardness.

"I want you now, Troy," Ryan whispered, bucking up into his boyfriend.

Troy then leaned over the side of the bed and began rummaging through the pockets in his pants. In just a few seconds, he was back on top of Ryan, now holding a small foil package.

"Put it on me?" he asked, giving Ryan the condom.

Ryan tore the foil and took the condom out. He reached down in between their bodies and gently rolled the condom over his boyfriend's straining erection. The two kissed before Troy leaned up and positioned himself between Ryan's legs.

Ryan moved his legs to give Troy better access. He wrapped his legs around Troy's waist. Troy grabbed Ryan's length and began to slowly pump it as he stretched his boyfriend, preparing him for what was to come. Ryan's moans became louder and louder as Troy's fingers stretched him to accommodate Troy's manhood.

"I'm ready, Troy," Ryan said, barely able to contain himself any longer.

With that, Troy lifted Ryan's legs over his shoulders and positioned himself at Ryan's entrance. "I love you," Troy said as he slowly pushed himself inside his boyfriend.

Ryan gasped as the familiar sensation of being filled consumed him. It was one of the most pleasurable sensations Ryan had ever experienced, the small twinge of pain barely recognizable anymore.

Troy began rocking himself into Ryan, grasping Ryan's hips for leverage. The only thing that could be heard in the room were the soft gasps coming from the two lovers.

"Troy, please," Ryan panted out in between his boyfriend's thrusts, "faster."

Troy grunted as he began to speed up. He loved being able to cause Ryan to lose all sense. He knew he was the only one to ever do this with Ryan, and he hoped he would be the only one ever. He loved the feeling of moving in and out of his boyfriend, giving as much pleasure as he was getting. Feeling Ryan surround him, their bodies moving against each other in the age old dance of lovers.

He moved Ryan's legs to wrap around his waist so that he could lean down and kiss his boyfriend. Ryan wrapped his arms around Troy's neck and crashed their mouths together, Troy still pumping in and out of him.

They were panting against one another, both enjoying the sensations being caused by the other's body. "God, Troy," Ryan panted. "So good … always so good."

"You, too, Ry," Troy said. "So good. So tight."

Ryan tightened his legs around Troy's waist, bring Troy deeper into his body. It was so good. Troy then reached in between the two of them and began fisting Ryan's cock. Within moments, Ryan was squirming even more, bucking into Troy's fist and then pushing himself deeper onto Troy's cock.

"I'm not going to last much longer, Ry," Troy said, thrusting frantically into his pliant boyfriend.

"Me either," Ryan gasped.

With several more pumps of Troy's fist, Ryan was spilling himself all over his stomach and Troy's hand. The constriction of Ryan around Troy's cock was the last straw for Troy as well and he was soon gasping as he released into the condom.

He then collapsed onto Ryan, both of them panting as the came down from their erotic high. They continued placing sloppy, lazy kisses all over one another's faces, Ryan's hands running up and down Troy's back.

Troy then moved from on top of his boyfriend, allowing himself to pull out of his boyfriend. Ryan hissed at the sensation of his legs regaining the blood flow. The pins-and-needles sensation was totally worth it once you took into account the pleasure he had just experienced.

Ryan smiled over at Troy, who smiled back, then rolled off the bed and walked into the bathroom to dispose of the condom. He came back out a moment later with a warm wash cloth. He sat next to Ryan and began wiping up all evidence of their love making from Ryan's stomach, he then reached down to wipe between his boyfriend's thighs. Ryan giggled at the new sensation.

Troy then tossed the cloth to the floor and moved to spoon against Ryan's warm, relaxed body. "That was amazing, Ry."

Ryan rolled over to face Troy and grinned up at him. "It's always good, babe." He then let out a big yawn.

"Go to sleep, love," Troy said, draping his arm across Ryan's body and bringing him closer. "I'll see you in the morning."

And that's how the two of them fell asleep, in the arms of the one they loved most.

**A/N: Well, that was certainly different than what I had originally planned to write, but I hope you all enjoyed it anyway. I don't usually write scenes like this, so I hope I didn't mess it up too badly. Please read and review.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: So the next few chapters both incorporate some big leaps in time, let me know if you find them confusing at all and I'll see what I can do. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

It had been two weeks since "the day," as Kaden and Ryan referred to it. Two weeks of pure hell. It had never crossed any of their minds that when a professor called a test a midterm it didn't necessarily mean that the actual test happened midway through the term. The four friends had been scrambling around one another, never really able to all hang out at once, but merely catching several minutes together where they could.

Troy and Jeff had been busy beginning the pledge process at their respective chapters and neither had as much time as they had wanted to spend with their … well, Jeff really didn't know what to call Kaden, yet. But regardless of that minute detail, they still had barely any time together.

Ryan was busy reading, writing and getting involved in certain activities. His new schedule was in part to gain connections around campus — if there was one thing he had learned from his father, it was that connections were necessary to be successful — but also in part to take his mind off the fact that he still felt neglected by Troy.

That's not to say that he didn't love, absolutely love, what Troy had done for him on "the day," but Ryan's idea of a relationship was not all about the extravagant plans that occurred every once in a while, it was about the small things, the daily reminders that no matter what, your partner was putting you in the forefront of his or her mind. That no matter what he was doing, Troy would always be thinking about Ryan. And it didn't seem like that was so much the case these days.

Every time, Ryan was able to get Troy's attention for longer than five minutes, it would ultimately end with Ryan being cut off and Troy running over to the fraternity house for one ungodly reason or another.

It was made even worse, some of the time, when Ryan would walk into his dorm room and be confronted with Jeff and Kaden, who had obviously just been making out, straightening up their clothes and taming their hair. It seemed that even the couple who couldn't even necessarily figure out what they were to one another could make more time to just be with each other than Troy could with Ryan.

It was the first time in more than a year that Ryan had felt this way. He didn't like it, but he didn't know what to do. The fraternity was still, and had always been, a touchy subject between the two, and Ryan just didn't know how to bring it up without another blowout happening.

The one shining light at the end of this tunnel was that Ryan's family was coming to visit in a matter of days. He missed his entire family, especially Sharpay. No matter how she acted at school and in public, she had been Ryan's best friend and confidant for more than 18 years, and only being able to speak with her intermittently over the phone was really beginning to take its toll. This visit was going to do as much to assuage Ryan's anxiety as it would to relieve his mother of the fact that he was living in a place where he had to do his own laundry and cleaning.

---------------------------------------

"You think the bathroom was clean enough, don't you?" Ryan asked as he paced the sidewalk in front of his residence hall.

Troy let out a small chuckle and shook his head. "Ry, the bathroom is fine," Troy said. "In fact, you probably have the cleanest room in the entire campus. You don't need to worry about anything."

"I'm not worrying," Ryan said, still pacing. "I just don't want my parents to think I'm living in squalor. You know Sharpay is going to make some kind of comment about my room not being as big as her bathroom at home."

Troy reached out and grabbed his boyfriend, keeping him from walking a deeper rut in the sidewalk. He held him close and leaned his head against his boyfriend's. "Are you happy?" Troy asked. Ryan looked up and nodded to Troy. "Then your family will be happy. Now, just stand still. You were starting to make me dizzy."

Ryan laughed and slipped out of Troy's grip, but still leaned against the brunette. "I know. I just … you know, I haven't seen them in a while and I want them to know I'm taking care of myself. You know, that I'm able to take care of myself."

Troy knew. It had taken a lot of convincing for Ryan's parents to finally agree to let Ryan attend school out of state. Troy could see where his parents were coming from, in the fact that Ryan had never really been left to his own devices, but he had full confidence in his boyfriend's abilities. It was a good thing his parents finally saw the same thing.

The two only stood alone for a few more minutes, until Ryan spotted his family car pulling down the street.

"They're here!" Ryan said excitedly as he watched the black SUV pull up in front of the building. He grabbed a hold of his boyfriend's hand and dragged him up to the curb. As soon as the car parked, Ryan was up to the passenger side door helping his mother out.

"Hi mom," he said as he enveloped the petite blonde in a hug that looked like it might suffocate the smaller woman.

"Hello, Ducky," Mrs. Evans replied, returning the hug with equal enthusiasm. Ryan was so happy to see his family that he didn't even chide his mother for using the nickname out in public.

There was a slight cough to the side of the two hugging family members, and Ryan turned his head in that direction. His smile widened and before his mother knew it, her baby boy was running over to grab his sister.

"Shar!" Ryan exclaimed. "Oh my gosh, it's so good to have you here. I've missed you so much." Ryan hugged his sister tightly, which she returned.

While the three blonds were embracing and exchanging pleasantries, Mr. Evans walked over toward Troy and slapped the athlete on the back. "Good to see you, son," he said as he reached over to grasp Troy's extended hand.

"Good to see you, too, sir," Troy replied. He really liked Mr. Evans, but the father of his boyfriend could still be pretty intimidating when he wanted to. Apparently now was one of those times. He looked down at his son's boyfriend, and then over to his son. "Is he doing okay?"

Troy looked over at his boyfriend who was still speaking animatedly with his mother and sister. "He's doing well," Troy replied. "He misses you guys terribly, but he's busy making a name for himself around here."

Ryan's father looked back over at his son, "We miss him, too," Mr. Evans said. "The house just isn't the same without him and his sister fighting and singing all the time." Then he looked back over to Troy. "We miss you, too, son."

Troy looked down at his shoes. He never really knew how to react when any of the Evans — aside from Ryan — showed him such affection. He looked back up at Ryan and felt his heart swell. He looked so happy with his family. Happier then he had been in several days. This was exactly what he needed.

Ryan finally parted from his mother and sister and walked over to his dad with a smile on his face. He reached out and was soon enveloped in his dad's strong arms. "I've missed you, dad," he breathed out into his dad's shoulder. The two hugged for several seconds before they broke apart.

Then Ryan walked over to Troy and grabbed his hand. The two stood side by side as Ryan's mother walked over to stand next to his father. Sharpay just stood next to her parents, checking her make up in a small mirror.

"Well," Ryan's father started. "Are we just going to stand outside all day staring at each other or are you going to take us inside and show us your new place?"

"Come on," Ryan said, turning on his heel and dragging Troy to the door of the building. "Just a warning, Shar, my room may not be up to your tastes."

"Few things ever live up, Ry," Sharpay said, following her brother inside the residence hall.

The family followed the two young men through the hallway leading to the elevator. They waited for several minutes for it to reach the ground floor, which Sharpay made sure to comment about. Once they were all standing inside the small metal box, Ryan pushed the appropriate button and they all began waiting again. Ryan couldn't help but laugh when he noticed his sister was trying with all her might to not touch any part of the elevator.

"You know," Ryan started. "Nothing's going to happen to you if you touch something, Sharpay."

"You don't know that," Sharpay said as she looked around her at the steel paneling all around her. "I don't trust anything that we haven't had our staff go over."

Ryan laughed at his sister's wiles. Soon they were walking out of the elevator and down the hallway to Ryan's room. Sharpay was getting a few looks from the random passers by. She usually got that kind of response with her ostentatious style, and yet she was never bothered by it.

They all finally reached his door, and Ryan hesitated for a second before turning the handle and walking into his room. Kaden was on his bed reading a textbook, and glanced up to see Ryan and his whole entourage enter. Ryan's family filed in and began looking at everything, from the arrangement of the furniture to the posters on the wall.

"It's awfully small," Sharpay finally said. "I mean, where does your roommate keep all of his clothes?"

"We share the space," Ryan said while shaking his head. "It's what we do."

"Oh no," Sharpay said. "That is unacceptable."

Ryan just rolled his eyes. "Speaking of my roommate," he said motioning to Kaden, who was still sitting on his bed, "This is Kaden, my roommate."

Sharpay looked over to where her brother was pointing. She arched her eyebrow as she surveyed the young man sitting on the bed, then she smiled and began walking over to him. She extended her hand and smiled, "I'm Sharpay. I'm sure Ryan's told you all about me." She batted her eyes and gave Kaden a flirtatious smile. Kaden just sat stone cold on his bed, not knowing how to proceed.

"Whoa, Shar," Ryan said, knowing exactly what his sister was thinking. "He's already seeing someone."

Sharpay just let out a sigh and spun around to look at her brother. "And let me guess," she began, "It's a boy." When Ryan didn't make a move to say anything different, she just quirked an eyebrow. "Why do all the seemingly good ones have to be gay? It's not like I'm asking for much, but come on. Throw me a bone."

Ryan laughed and he could see that Kaden had visibly relaxed. He sat down next to Kaden as Sharpay leaned against the desk and began looking over her nails. Troy was still standing by the entrance of the room.

"Well, Ducky," Ryan's mother began, smoothing out a patch of comforter on Ryan's bed before sitting down on it. "This is very nice."

Kaden shot a look over at Ryan and mouthed 'Ducky?' Ryan knew he was going to get some serious crap for that later. But it didn't matter. He was just happy to have his family with him for a little bit.

The six of them sat around for several more minutes chit-chatting, introducing Kaden to the family and talking about classes and activities they were all doing. Then Ryan's father stood up and announced: "Well, I think your mother and I are going to take our things to the hotel and get settled. Then we can come back and pick you all up and go to dinner. How does that sound?"

There was a chorus of greats and okays from three of the teens on the other side of the room. Troy however was silent.

"Actually, Mr. Evans," Troy began, "I have to go over to my fraternity house for some stuff. I won't be able to go."

"Come on, Troy," Ryan whined. "Can't you just skip one thing and come to dinner with all of us. I know dad wants to talk sports with you, and there's no way Kaden or I will be able to help out with that." Ryan looked at his boyfriend imploringly.

Usually, Troy couldn't resist the puppy dog eyes, but he just couldn't miss the things happening at the house. "I can't, Ry," he said. "I'll come by after I'm finished, okay?"

Ryan slumped a little, but nodded. Troy walked over and placed a kiss on his boyfriend's head before turning to say goodbye to Ryan's parents. "It was great seeing you guys. I'm sure we'll see each other again before you leave."

"We had better," Ryan's mother said as she got up off the bed to give Troy a hug. Then Ryan's father got up to give Troy a pat on the back. "I want a full brief on the state of sports at this school. I don't know much about the Pac-10, but I'm sure you can fill me in." Troy smiled at this, then turned to head out of the room. Ryan wouldn't meet his gaze as he walked past him.

After several more minutes, Ryan's parents and Sharpay were on their way to the hotel, promising to be back within the hour to pick up Ryan and Kaden for dinner.

------------------------------

Thirty minutes after dinner found Ryan and Sharpay sitting on Ryan's bed, Ryan going through the latest issue of Cosmo, courtesy of his sister. Sharpay was sitting with her back to Ryan, one foot propped in front of her, a nail polish brush gliding across her toenails. Kaden made a quick exit right after dinner; he was probably going to see Jeff.

Sharpay put the finishing touches on one foot and then leaned back to admire her work. She looked over her shoulder and saw Ryan intently reading on of the guy advice columns. 'Typical Ryan,' she thought to herself.

"So, are you going to tell me what's eating you or are you going to make me guess?" Sharpay finally asked. Watching her nail polish dry no longer held her interest apparently. "I mean, watching you read is fascinating, but I'm more interested in why you've been skulking around since Troy took off earlier."

"You don't waste any time, do you?" Ryan asked as he put the magazine down. He looked up to see Sharpay and gasped when he saw her. "Jesus, Shar, warn someone when you look like that."

She had put some sort of facial on. It was green and grimey. It looked like guacamole. Chances are it probably was. "Look," Sharpay said, "you know I need to moisturize every evening. I've been doing it for more than four years. You should be used to it by now … and stop trying to change the topic. Tell me what's wrong."

Ryan looked like he was going to challenge her, but Sharpay put a stop to that futile attempt. "I know these things, Ry," she said. "I'm your twin. You can't hide it from me."

Ryan sighed and moved on the bed so that he could rest his head on his sister's shoulder. Sharpay felt a thrill of foreboding rush through her; Ryan hadn't done anything like this since high school — since he had started dating Troy.

"I don't know, Shar," Ryan said somewhat dejectedly. "Sometimes I just think I'm being a big baby about it, but other times it's like he just forgets that I'm here waiting for him to finish whatever he's doing and pay attention to me."

Sharpay rested her head on top of her brother's, making sure to not get any of her facial mask on him. "Have you talked to him about it?"

"I don't know how to bring it up to him," Ryan said. "The last time I said something about his fraternity, we got into this huge fight and made a scene in the middle of a crowded building."

"Well," Sharpay said, lifting her head so that she could get a better view of her brother. "Was that you actually trying to talk to him about it, or you just making fun of it? Because there's a big difference."

Ryan blushed. Damn this twin connection. Sharpay noticed and smiled. "You know, I bet if you talked to him about it, he'd do something. You know he doesn't ever mean to hurt you or make you feel bad."

"I know," Ryan sighed. "I just don't want to be that person, you know? The one who always wants to know where he is and what he's doing. I don't want to be the ball and chain."

"There is a huge difference between being a ball and chain and wanting to spend some quality time with your boyfriend," Sharpay said. "He knows that."

"I guess you're right," Ryan admitted. "Maybe I'll talk to him about it tomorrow."

"That's a good boy," Sharpay said as she petted Ryan's head. "Now, do you have any sugar around here? No chocolate, though. I don't want to break out."

Ryan laughed at his sister. "Shar, you're wearing a batch of guacamole on your face, why don't you just get some chips and scrape it off."

"That's disgusting," Sharpay said, smacking her brother on the shoulder. "And this is not guacamole. This is … well, it's imported. And expensive. Seriously, though. Sugar. Now."

Ryan continued laughing as he reached into his desk and grabbed a bag of sour gummy worms and tossed them to his sister. "Mmm," she said as she tore into the bag, "my favorite."

They spent the next while catching up and gossiping about their mutual friends from school. Many had stayed home and enrolled in the local university, including Sharpay. Apparently she was finding out where she belonged. She had been cast in one of the co-starring roles for the university's fall musical. Not one of the leads yet, but if you asked Sharpay, it would happen by the end of the year. And with her determination and motivation it probably would happen.

Ryan felt a small pang as he listened to his sister talk about all their friends, and what it was like working on an even bigger stage for an even bigger audience. Maybe he would have to look into the theater department.

Eventually, Ryan drifted off into his own world, thinking about everything that was happening to him while all of his friends and family were going through something completely different. His thoughts drifted to Troy, to the new friends he had made since arriving at school, back to Troy and then to the gummy worm he had sucked all the sour stuff from. He laughed to himself as he pulled the worm out of his mouth, and then jumped when his sister's voice finally re-entered his consciousness.

"Are you even listening to me, Ryan?" Sharpay asked from beside him.

"Uh … no?" he replied, and then immediately followed it up with a placation. "I'm sorry, Shar, I was just thinking about things."

Their conversation was abruptly stalled when the door to the room opened and Kaden slowly walked in. He looked contemplative, about what, the twins couldn't tell, so they just sat quietly on the bed, waiting for his attention to be drawn to them.

Kaden put his jacket on the back of his chair and then turned toward his roommate's bed. He jumped back, somewhat startled, when he finally took in the state of the two siblings sitting there.

His mouth hung open for a few seconds before he realized how awkward he must be looking. Then he tried for a moment to vocalize something. Sharpay cut him off, however.

"I don't let many people see me like this, Kaden," she said. "Don't make me regret letting you live."

Kaden's eyes widened comically, then Ryan started laughing, soon followed by his sister. After several seconds, Kaden finally joined in. Ryan invited his roommate to join them on his bed and the three talked late into the night about all manner of things — mostly boys.

----------------------------------

Kaden had just left Ryan and Sharpay in front of their residence hall. He had thanked Mr. and Mrs. Evans for the wonderful dinner and had then taken off for somewhere unknown to the rest of the group. He got a text message from Jeff during dinner asking to meet on campus. And that's where he was headed at this very moment.

He was walking down one of the streets by a cluster of academic buildings, enjoying the light breeze. The street lamps had just turned on, and the sky was painted a range of oranges and reds. Kaden was so caught up in taking in his surroundings that he never noticed the arm coming out behind him and forcefully pulling him into an outcropping of shrubbery. He let out a very unmanly squeak before coming face to face with Jeff … his, well, as yet to be determined friend with benefits.

"Hey, stranger," Jeff said as he helped right his unbalanced … friend. "Long time no see." He then leaned over and placed a light peck on Kaden's lips.

"Right," Kaden said as he smiled at Jeff. "Because anything more than 12 hours is such a long, long time." He then playfully kissed Jeff back.

The two of them quickly became engrossed in one another, which was something that happened all too often lately. Jeff teased Kaden's lips open and began delving into the soft warmth of his mouth, his hands running through Kaden's blond hair. Kaden's hands rested on Jeff's chest, and what a firm chest it was, feeling the heat coming off his almost-boyfriend's body.

Kaden sighed and pulled away, smiling. "I missed you," he said.

"Oh yeah?" Jeff asked. "Weren't you just the one saying that we haven't been apart long enough to miss each other?

"I guess," Kaden said begrudgingly. "If you want to be accurate and all."

Jeff just laughed and sat down on the ground, pulling Kaden on top of him. The two huddled together and continued kissing quietly, between exchanging gentle looks and comforting caresses. Things between then just felt so right. It was hard to explain, but neither of them wanted to question much of anything when they were with each other.

"So, how was dinner with the whole Evans family?" Jeff asked, poking Kaden in the side.

Kaden slapped Jeff's wandering hand away and snuggled in closer. "It was great," he started. "For all their eccentricities, and trust me, they have plenty, they love each other and you can totally tell it. Oh my gosh! And his sister!"

"Is she everything that Ryan has made her up to be?" Jeff interrupted, asking the question that had been on his mind ever since he found out Kaden was going to dinner with them. There was no way Sharpay could really be everything Ryan had made her up to be.

"Everything and more," Kaden said excitedly. "She is so funny and rude and fashionable and, oh man, it's just … you have to meet her before they all leave."

"I'll make a point to, then," Jeff said. The two of them fell into a comfortable silence, Kaden still sitting on Jeff's lap, just soaking up being with each other. There weren't many opportunities for the two of them to just be with each other, so Kaden was going to be damned if he ever let one opportunity pass him by.

"So, I've been thinking," Jeff said, breaking the silence. "Actually I've been thinking a lot …" he trailed off.

When Jeff didn't immediately pick up his train of thought, Kaden leaned and poked him in the side. "You've been thinking a lot about what? How uncomfortable sitting on the ground is? How you're going to finish that paper for your writing class? Or wait, I know, you've been thinking about how even though boxer briefs provide the extra support, you just can't beat the freedom provided by regular boxers."

Jeff laughed and laid his head on Kaden's shoulder. "No," he began, "I've been thinking about us." Then he turned lifted his head so he was able to look Kaden directly in the eyes. "I've been thinking a lot about us, about where we're going, what we're doing."

At that Kaden pulled back from Jeff. He was pretty sure he knew where this was going. He had been on the receiving end of a break up enough times to know what it looked like. At least Jeff was doing him the courtesy of breaking it off before he became too attached, well more attached than he already had become.

"Kade," Jeff said, using Kaden's nickname to bring him out of his reverie. "Hey, I'm right here. Where did you go?"

"Sorry," Kaden said, still trying to shake off the feeling of foreboding he was getting. "What were you saying."

"I was saying," Jeff said, while bringing Kaden's line of vision back to his out, "I was saying that I want you to be my boyfriend. I want us to be boyfriends."

Kaden had no idea what to say. This was certainly not what he had been expecting. Boyfriends? Was Jeff serious? He just stared at Jeff for he didn't know how long, his mouth not moving. He was actually unable to form words.

"Kade?" Jeff asked, now looking far less confident than he had a few seconds ago. "Did you hear what I said?"

That seemed to push Kaden into action. He wrapped his arms around Jeff, which caused the two to loose balance and fall back on the ground. Before Jeff knew what was going on, he had a big face full of his new boyfriend.

Once he finally was able to pull away from Kaden's kisses, he chuckled and said, "So, I'll take that as a yes?"

Kaden could only nod enthusiastically. The two continued to make out for several more minutes before it became too dark, and too cold, to continue. Jeff helped Kaden up off the ground and then out of the bush. They continued to stroll down the sidewalk, hand in hand, Jeff leading Kaden back to his dorm. Kaden was on cloud nine. That is, until they came close to another couple walking in the opposite direction.

Jeff nonchalantly let his hand fall from Kaden's grasp and then moved imperceptibly further away from Kaden. It all happened so fast, Kaden didn't even know what to think. The two continued to walk in silence until they were almost at the residence hall.

"I'm glad you said yes," Jeff said. "I really am."

"I'm glad you finally got the balls to ask me," Kaden replied, grinning coyly. He then made a move to plant a quick kiss on his boyfriend's lips.

Jeff smoothly dodged the kiss, and looked around before bringing his attention back to the blond standing in front of him. "But," he began somewhat nervously, "maybe we should keep things to a minimum in public … you know?"

Kaden frowned slightly. He didn't exactly understand what Jeff was trying to say and it seemed that Jeff was at least able to pick up on that fact. "I mean … you know, not everybody, just … certain people. Like my fraternity."

At Kaden's still confused look, Jeff continued, "I mean, I just don't know how they'd take it, you know?"

Kaden just nodded. He _didn't_ really get it, but he wasn't going to let that get in the way of what had been a great evening. Jeff smiled, looked around again, and leaned forward to peck Kaden on the lips.

He then stepped back and gave a slight wave as he took off in the direction of his dorm. Even though Kaden watched him walk away with a slight skip to his step, he couldn't help feeling as though he had just been slighted somehow.

**A/N: So, I have the whole story mapped out now and I'm pretty excited about that. I looks like it will probably be about 24 chapters. Also, I kept forgetting to say something in response to some of the comments about Parker. He's not meant to be anything more than a peripheral character … then again, that's all that Jeff and Kaden were supposed to be and we all see how that turned out. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy. Please read and review!!**


	12. Chapter 12

Shirts were sailing out of Ryan's bureau. They had been for the last 20 minutes. Exams were finally over and Ryan was getting ready to go home. It was time for the holiday break and that meant Ryan had to pack. Apparently, in order to go home, Ryan had to find a way to pack his entire wardrobe into two medium-sized suitcases. It wasn't quite as easy as it sounded.

Ryan took another shirt off a hanger and looked it over before tossing it behind him, hoping it landed on his bed. He went to reach for another shirt when he heard his roommate sigh again. Kaden had been sighing intermittently ever since he had gotten back from his last test. It was starting to grate on Ryan, who generally considered himself a person who was hard to annoy.

Kaden sighed again. One of those big, breathy sighs. The one where you knew there was something he wanted to say, but was waiting for an excuse to actually say it. Ryan took the shirt in his hands and put it back on the hanger before leaning back and peaking his head out of the closet and giving his roommate a look.

"Are you going to keep sighing or are you going to tell me what's on your mind?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kaden said. "I'm just sitting here on my bed. Thinking. About really, really important things."

Ryan just stared at his roommate for another moment before backing up and closing his closet doors. "Whatever," Ryan said. "I'm going to grab my Wheat Thins and I'll be over at your bed in just a sec."

"Wheat Thins?" Kaden questioned.

"Boy-talk food," Ryan replied as he dug through the pile of clothes that had landed all over his side of the room. "If you're going to dish, you've got to have something to sustain yourself."

Kaden let out a soft chuckle and began moving himself up the length of the bed to make room for Ryan.

"Ah ha!" Ryan exclaimed triumphantly as he held up the yellow box of wheat crackers. "Now, it's time to talk."

He moved quickly across the room and did a little half-jump and landed on top of Kaden who quickly pushed him off and to the vacant side of the bed. "I can't talk if you're smothering me," Kaden said as Ryan shot him an I'm-so-innocent look.

After several seconds of laughing, Ryan situated himself, cross-legged facing his friend. "Okay," Ryan said, opening his box of crackers and offering some to Kaden, "spill."

"So," Kaden said. "I've been thinking about Jeff. And I'm not sure what we're doing."

Ryan laughed. "You don't know? It's called making out at every single opportunity. At least, you know, from where I'm sitting. I mean, your bed is almost as well used as mine. You big ho. I'm actually kind of scared to be sitting here," he finished, laughing.

"That's not what I mean," Kaden said, shaking his head. "I don't know. I mean — God this is so awkward to talk about."

"Kaden," Ryan said, bringing his friend out of his ramblings. "You know you can tell me whatever it is you're thinking about. God knows you I have no room to judge anything you're going to tell me."

"That's for sure," Kaden agreed. "I can only catch you in a semi-undressed state so many times before I know as much about you as Troy does."

Ryan threw a cracker at his roommate, which hit him on the cheek. "Ha ha, funny man, now tell me what's up before I shove a cracker where not even Jeff has been."

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk about," Kaden said, his cheeks blushing. "I think I'm ready."

Ryan could only look confused. "Ready? Ready for what? A Cracker up your ass? Because I have to admit, that's kind of weird."

"What!?" Kaden asked, wearing a look of shock. "That's disgusting, you perv. I mean I'm ready," he said giving Ryan an imploring look. "Ready for sex."

"Oh," Ryan said, finally understanding what his roommate was trying to say. "Ready."

Kaden nodded, glad his roommate had finally cottoned on. This conversation was already awkward without Ryan making outlandish comments.

"So," Ryan continued slowly, "did you want to talk about how to actually do stuff, because I could totally get you a book. There are pictures and descriptions and everything."

Kaden smacked the palm of his hand on his forehead. He should have known. "Look, Ry," he began, "If you're just going to make jokes, I'm not going to talk about this."

"I'm not trying to make jokes," Ryan said. When Kaden shot him a glare that could kill, Ryan amended his statement. "Okay, maybe a little joke. But I don't know what you want my advice on."

Kaden's look softened and he sighed again. "I don't know if I think I'm ready because I just want to have sex, or, you know, if it's for the right reasons. I don't know how to tell." Then he looked Ryan straight in the eye. "I wanted to know how you knew it was time."

"Ah," Ryan said. Everything was falling into place now. "Well, I can definitely tell you how to know when you're not ready."

Kaden looked at Ryan pleadingly and so Ryan continued on. "Don't do it if the only reason you have for going further is because you don't know what to do next. Trust yourself to know when it's time."

It looked like Kaden was mulling things over, then asked a question Ryan really didn't want to delve too much into. "How did you come to that conclusion? I thought everything with you and Troy went really smoothly. I mean, you are pretty much the most perfect, sickeningly sweet couple I've ever seen."

Ryan laughed at his roommate's assessment of him and his boyfriend, but at the same time was filled with a feeling of unease. He didn't much like talking about relationships before Troy.

"Well," he began. "Troy wasn't my first boyfriend. And things were definitely not as 'sickeningly sweet' as they are with Troy."

"Oh my gosh," Kaden gasped as the realization washed over him. "What happened?"

Ryan held out the box of Wheat Thins again and this time Kaden readily accepted. Ryan laughed. Sometimes boy-talk could be just as good, if not better than girl-talk.

"It was never anything that bad," Ryan started off. He needed to make sure that Kaden didn't think anything too badly about what had happened. "He never forced me to do anything I didn't want to. I just thought I wanted it. But I really wanted something else."

"Or was it someone else?" Kaden asked, smiling.

Ryan chuckled. Sometimes it was scary how well his roommate knew him. "It all happened right when I thought I would never have a chance, you know?"

"During that one summer, right?" Kaden asked. Ryan nodded, confirming his suspicion.

"I didn't know what else to do, or if I'd ever really have a chance to be that way with someone I really loved, so I thought, why not?" Ryan continued with his story.

"Because it's not fair to you or the other person," Kaden answered. "But you knew that, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Ryan said. "It definitely wasn't my proudest moment, and I never meant to do that to him, but you live and you learn. And that's how I knew when the time was right with Troy."

"If you don't mind me asking," Kaden continued. "How did you know it was the right time with Troy?"

Ryan couldn't help but laugh. The two of them had just been talking about things he had never considered talking to other people about. "Look," Ryan said. "The only thing I'm really not comfortable with right now, between us, is getting naked and sleeping together in the same bed. Otherwise, I consider this friendship a free for all."

Kaden laughed as he grabbed a few more crackers from the box, then waited for Ryan to start again.

"I was kind of hoping the joke would throw you off," Ryan said. "No such luck, eh?" Kaden just smiled and shook his head. There was no such luck to be had. And so Ryan prepared to continue.

"It's hard to describe, you know?" He asked, then thought better of himself. "Of course you don't know. That's why we're talking."

Ryan took his box of crackers back and stuffed several in his mouth while he thought about how to best tell his story. After a bit, he leaned back and looked at the ceiling.

"It's so hard to put it all into words," Ryan began. "Like, when you're sure, you'll know. After I did that with my first boyfriend, I knew what not to do with Troy.

"We never rushed anything. And it's not like I had it all planned and mapped out that on the sixth week we were dating we would have sex, you know?" Ryan went on. "It was totally unplanned, but once it happened I knew it was the right thing.

"What I'm trying to tell you is that I can't be the one to tell you that you're ready. You'll know when you are," Ryan finished.

Kaden just looked at him for a few minutes and then burst out laughing. Ryan didn't know what was going on. He had just said some pretty emotional and private things and his roommate was laughing at him?

Kaden could tell that his laughter was not being well-received so he held out his hand to motion to Ryan not to get upset. "No, no," he started. "It's not what you're thinking. I just — have you ever considered giving Dr. Phil a run for his money? Because sometimes you say some of the cheesiest things."

Then he looked back at Ryan, "Cheesy, but right."

Ryan just shook his head. "This is the last time I ever share my Wheat Thins with you, you big jerk."

"Oh, come on," Kaden said with mock panic. "Boy-talk is so much fun. I don't know if I can live without it."

"Watch the mocking, buddy, or I'll sit on you again," Ryan said menacingly.

-------------------------------

Troy closed the door to the cab and settled in for the 90-minute drive to the airport. It had been a rough term; the fraternity had been demanding, classes had been difficult and Ryan had become more distant as the term had progressed. But it was all finally over and they were on their way back home for a month. A month that promised to be full of friends, family and basically everything the young couple had been missing since they moved off to school.

Ryan sat on the other side of the seat, looking out of the window. Troy looked over at his boyfriend and let out a low sigh. Ryan had been giving him the cold shoulder ever since he had arrived, bags in tow, to catch their taxi.

"Ry," Troy said quietly as he slid across the leather bench seat. The blond remained silent, still staring out the window at the now-moving scenery. "Ryan, what's going on?"

Ryan finally turned to face his boyfriend. "I just have a lot on my mind right now, Troy," he said. "I just — I need time to think about things."

"Is it all right if I just sit here?" Troy asked, lightly grabbing a hold of one of Ryan's hands.

"It's fine," Ryan lightly smiled. "I just need to think."

"Okay," Troy said, then added hesitantly, "I'm here if you want to talk."

"I know," Ryan said, then kissed his boyfriend on the cheek. He then looked back outside, his mind wandering off to a conversation he had a few weeks back.

------------------------------

"Ryyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaannnn!" The voice screeching from down the hallway brought a smile to Ryan's face. He got up from the couch on which he was sitting and jumped out into the hallway to intercept the brown-haired bombshell that was no doubt barreling down it to find him.

"Meg!" he yelled as he faux dove out of the game room at Sigma Phi Gamma.

"I knew you'd be in there, ho bag," the leggy brunette said. "Now, come on. We have to get to meet Leslie at the coffee shop in 10 minutes and we're probably going to be late because of your hide and seek act."

Meg linked her arm through Ryan's and dragged him out of the house. Ryan smiled and listened as Meg prattled on about random things as they walked out of the residential area and down to the business district.

Ryan met Meg several weeks into the term while visiting the fraternity house with Troy. She was the girlfriend of one of the brothers, a member of the Omega Chi sorority and had immediately taken a shine to the shy, blond boy.

Once Troy had gone off with some of the other guys, Meg sat down and asked Ryan every question under the sun. By the time Troy came back, Ryan had made one great new friend. The two of them had been practically inseparable ever since, made all the more easy by the fact that Ryan had to find someone else with whom to spend his time. Troy was always busy with the fraternity and Kaden was MIA most of the time because of his torrid romance with the most closeted gay boy Ryan had ever met.

Okay, so that was a little mean. But Ryan felt like he was being left behind, and Meg made him feel like he was moving on along with everyone else.

The two friends soon arrived at the coffee shop, and as soon as they walked in, were confronted with a rather loud, overly dramatic sigh. "Oh my god," a girl sitting at one of the tables in the middle of shop said as she crossed her legs and put her cup on the table. "I thought you two would never get here."

Ryan let out a laugh. Leslie had this way about her of always being able to make him laugh. Some of the things she said, well, let's just say that they were probably the furthest from politically correct that one could ever get. And Ryan loved it.

Meg was a formidable woman on her own, but when you combined her with Leslie, they were unstoppable. The two, who were seniors, were well known around the campus community and deemed Ryan worthy of being taken under their wings.

Ryan went to sit with Leslie while Meg went to the counter to place their order. "So," Leslie began, lightly patting Ryan on the leg. "How's your day been going?"

"Oh, you know," Ryan replied. "As well as can be expected. I got ditched by my boyfriend at the fraternity house."

"Do you want me to break his legs?" Leslie asked in all seriousness. "I hear it's hard to ditch people when you can't walk."

Ryan laughed and shook his head. Leslie leaned back in her chair and took a drink of her coffee. "Well, you just let me know. The offer stands. Broken legs are my specialty … right after, well, you know, things about which ladies don't normally talk."

"Like that's ever stopped you before," Meg said as she walked back to the table, handing Ryan his drink. She sat down across from him and settled herself down for a good gossip fest.

The three friends talked for over an hour. Even after their drinks were long finished, they stayed in the coffee shop gossiping about everything ranging from the latest celebrity mishap to the sorority ho who had started dating the student body president just because she thought it would give her power. Because there was _so_ much power to be had on a college campus.

"My ex-boyfriend always had a thing for piñatas," Leslie said, shuddering a little bit. "I think it was the power he felt by beating something up."

"Did he ever hit you?" Meg asked, the seriousness of the question lessened by the fact that she was laughing the whole time.

"No," Leslie said, while letting out a sigh. "I'm not full of candy. That's probably why he ended things."

The three burst out into laughter that had the rest of the patrons sending looks their way, but that didn't seem to put a damper on their good time. Once they had calmed down, Meg brushed the hair out of her face and took a deep breath.

"Now, enough about Leslie's man troubles," she said. "What about you, Ry? Got anything going on in your sweet, innocent, little life?"

"Nothing really exciting," Ryan started. "My roommate is going out with a closeted loser and my boyfriend can't find enough time to even sit down and do his homework with me. Other than that, my life is great."

Meg and Leslie were silent. Just staring at Ryan, who noticed the change in moods. "Oh my God," he said, putting his head in his hands. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. We were having such a great time and I ruined it —"

"Hey," Meg interrupted. "You say whatever your little heart desires. Leslie will probably just find a way to turn it into a joke anyway."

"Hey!" Leslie said. "Just because I can see the humor in most situations doesn't mean I am insensitive or anything." Then she turned to Ryan, "I love you, your problems are my problems and my offer of breaking your boyfriend's legs still stands."

"Thank you," Ryan said solemnly. "But it's okay. Things will get better, right?"

Meg pulled a face, and then grabbed Ryan's hand. "You know the saying, it's darkest before the sunrise? It's kind of true. They only get more involved and more committed to the fraternity before initiation. But I'm sure you'll be able to work things out with Troy."

"Yeah," Leslie agreed. "You're basically the most sickeningly sweet couple I've ever met. It makes me want to vomit."

"Leslie," Meg said. "Stop it. Or I _will_ end you."

"Look," Leslie said. "Ryan doesn't need us sitting here, talking about his problems and trying to make him feel better. What Ryan needs is a drink. An alcoholic one."

Before Meg had a chance to protest, Ryan agreed and they were up walking toward the door. As soon as they got outside of the coffee shop, Leslie pulled a cigarette out of her purse and lit up.

"God, Leslie," Meg said. "Those things are gross and they cause cancer."

Without missing a beat, Leslie replied. "So do breasts, but you don't see us quitting those."

Ryan just shook his head, and the three began walking to the nearest bar.

------------------------------

"Hey, Ry," Troy said, shaking Ryan from his thoughts. "We're almost to the airport."

Ryan looked around. He couldn't have possibly been out of it for more than an hour. But as soon as he looked out the window, he realized that it was true. They were about five minutes from the airport terminal.

"Oh, sorry," Ryan said. "I was just —"

"Thinking," Troy finished for him. "I know."

Sensing Troy's frustration, Ryan looked over at him and squeezed his hand. "I really am sorry — look, let's just forget all of our problems and have a good break, okay?"

Troy thought about it for a few seconds. "I'll accept your terms," he said, "but only if you give me a kiss. A good one."

Ryan laughed, but leaned over and pecked Troy on the lips.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," the brunette said, pulling Ryan closer to him. "This is what I meant."

And with that, Troy brought his boyfriend into a searing kiss.

-------------------------------------

Troy stretched out in his spacious first class seat. There were definite perks to knowing the Evans family, and traveling in style was one of them. They had only been in the air for about 30 minutes and Ryan had already fallen asleep, his head resting on Troy's shoulder.

The brunette sighed, this is the closest the two had been, without fighting, for the last two weeks, and Troy had absolutely no idea what was going on. Sure, he had missed a few of their dates and he hadn't been around as much as he normally would be, but he had explained it to Ryan. He had to make sure he got to know all of the guys in the fraternity before initiation. And that took time. The way Ryan was acting about it, you'd think that Troy was never going to come back. It just didn't make any sense to him.

He looked over at his boyfriend and smiled. It was nice to just be around him without worrying of he was going to say or do something that might set him off.

Troy went back to listening to his iPod, the warmth from his boyfriend at his side a comforting presence. Soon, however, the complimentary beverage was working its way through his system and the pull to the bathroom could no longer be ignored.

"Ry," Troy whispered as he gently shook Ryan. "Come on, babe. Wake up. I have to go to the bathroom."

Ryan stirred and lifted his head. He blinked several times, trying to orient himself, and then looked over at his boyfriend. He grinned goofily at Troy and then leaned his head back against his seat.

Troy got up and started to move in front of his boyfriend when Ryan asked, "Where are you going?" Apparently he was still a little too out of it.

"I'm just going to the bathroom," Troy said soothingly. "I'll be right back."

Ryan didn't say anything, just relaxed back into his seat. He watched as Troy walked to the front of the cabin and into the small restroom. He was still kind of groggy from being woken prematurely from his nap, but was beginning to regain his wits.

His side was cold from losing contact with Troy and he was sad at the loss of contact. It was the most he'd had with his boyfriend in quite some time, which was sad when he had to think about it.

And the more he thought about it, the more upset he got. They were going back home for a month, and even though they wouldn't have to deal with classes, papers or fraternities, they wouldn't be able to stay the night with each other or anything that they had become accustomed to.

In short, Ryan didn't know what this vacation was going to turn out like. Ant then, like one of those wild impulses you get, but never really decide to act on, Ryan decided to walk up to the bathroom Troy was currently occupying.

He waited for less than a minute before he saw the red occupied sign flip to a green one reading 'vacant.' The door slid open and Ryan jumped into action. He pressed against Troy who was just leaving the small room and shoved him back inside. Ryan quickly followed and closed and locked the door behind him.

Before Troy could even voice his shock, Ryan's lips were over his and his hands were carding through Troy's hair.

When Troy was finally able to get Ryan off him, he took in several deep breaths and just stared at his boyfriend.

Ryan, now that he was not molesting his boyfriend, was taking in the scenery. It was small, gray, small, had a funny smell and it was small. This was not nearly as romantic as they made it out to be in the movies.

But there they were. Standing in the airplane bathroom, catching their breaths.

"What are you doing?" Troy finally asked. They had been standing in the bathroom absolutely silent for an obscenely awkward amount of time.

"I just wanted to …" Ryan trailed off. "I don't know. I just thought you would like this, and I haven't been able to do much with you lately and I — I just don't know."

"Do you want to get out of here?" Troy asked.

"Do you want me to get out of here?" Ryan asked.

Ryan began to move his hands up and down Troy's chest, and pushed himself flush against his boyfriend. "Or do you want me to stay here?"

His hands reached Troy's belt buckle and pulled on it. Troy was speechless. Ryan wasn't usually this forward with anyone, let alone something like sex. He would be lying to himself if he didn't admit that he was very turned on at the thought.

He was so busy thinking about Ryan that he didn't even notice when Ryan's hand slipped into his pants. He only noticed when he felt Ryan's fist close around his cock.

"Oh my God," Troy breathed out quickly.

"You like?" Ryan asked sweetly. Troy could only nod his head. Ryan smiled and started stroking slowly.

"I've missed this, Troy," Ryan said. "I've missed you."

Troy's response was lost, however, by the sudden banging on the restroom door. The two young men jumped apart, their hearts beating rapidly. They looked at each other and then Ryan reached for the door. There was no use trying to wait out the embarrassment they were sure to experience upon exiting the small room.

He opened the door, slightly and was confronted by the not-so-happy face of one of the flight attendants.

"Excuse me _sirs_," she accentuated the fact that she knew there was more than one person in the cabin. "I'm going to have to ask the both of you to return to your seats immediately."

Ryan could only nod. He closed the door again and turned to face Troy who was just staring at the door. "We have to leave."

Troy nodded, and then began smoothing out his rumpled shirt. Ryan tried to smooth out his hair and gave Troy a weak smile before he opened the door again and stepped out.

Troy took a deep breath before following his boyfriend back to his seat. There was only about one hour left before they would be landing. Then he could run from the airplane and never look back.

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the two new characters. I was talking with bobrabbit100, and they said something about a lack of female characters. Lucky for them, I had already planned to introduce these two before then. I hope Meg and Leslie don't annoy or offend any of you, I know how weird some OCs can be when they're not introduced properly. So, let me know what you think. Please read and review!**

**Also, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has continued to review and give feedback. It means a lot to me and lets me know what I'm doing well and what I need to work on. So thank you: Charlz, bobrabbit100, astrozombie50, im2k6, Shadow Cat17, Serious Fan, Mondler4EvEr, JustAnAmateur, Chuckness, ellbtvsvm, fieryflame, Luckynumbr4, Phoenix II and Broken-SilverWings. Thank you so very, very much. I hope you all continue to enjoy reading this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it.**


	13. Chapter 13

"Come on, babe," Troy said, shaking Ryan's sleeping form awake. "Time to get up."

Ryan grumbled and pulled the sheets over his head. It was too early for him to be getting up. Ever since he had come home for break, he had gotten into the habit of staying up until the wee hours of the morning and sleeping until the afternoon. It was now 11 a.m. and Ryan wasn't scheduled to wake up for at least another hour and a half.

"Ryan," Troy continued, rubbing his hands up and down his boyfriend's back. "We told Chad and Taylor we'd meet them at noon, and knowing how long it takes you to get dressed, we're going to be late." Then, pulling the pillow out of Ryan's grasp, he finished, "So, it's time to greet the day."

He got off his boyfriend and swatted him on the rear end before trotting out of the bedroom to wait. Ryan just glared at Troy's retreating form, grumbling something about having a morning person for a boyfriend.

As he walked down the stairs to the main floor, he heard noise coming from the kitchen and decided to investigate. He walked through the doorway and saw Ryan's mother standing by the counter, cutting out cookie shapes from the rolled out dough.

Contrary to popular opinion, Mrs. Evans was not a vapid, trophy wife who only lived to shop and hang on her husband's arm. She was a spirited, loving mother who would do anything for her children. She was also a great cook.

She raised her arm to wipe the sweat from her brow, and in the process, looked up from the countertop. She caught a glimpse of Troy, smiled and waved him in.

"Troy," she said warmly. "It's so good to see you. Cookie?" she asked, offering a plate filled with sugar cookies fresh from the oven.

"Thanks," Troy said, grabbing up one of the sweet confections. "So, holiday baking is in full swing, huh?"

"Oh yeah," she replied, pressing the cookie cutter into the soft dough once again. "You know what kind of a sweet tooth Ryan has. These will all be gone by next weekend."

Troy laughed as he grabbed another cookie. "So, do you know what's been keeping Ryan up late all this time?"

Mrs. Evans looked up from the counter with a confused expression on her face. "I just thought he was with you. I'm always asleep by the time he gets home."

Troy furrowed his brow. If he wasn't with Ryan and Ryan wasn't home, where the hell was he going off to in the middle of the night? This was definitely something he was going to bring up later.

The two continued talking for several minutes before a still-wet Ryan walked into the kitchen. "Okay, you big jerk," he said looking at Troy, "now that I'm awake and ready, let's get a move on before we mess up the schedule."

Troy got up from the seat he had taken at the kitchen table and put on his jacket while Ryan walked over to give his mother a kiss goodbye and grab a few cookies to sustain him on his excursion.

"Call me if you're going to be late, Ducky," she yelled as the couple made their way from the house.

"Not a word," Ryan said as his boyfriend started to giggle at the all-too familiar nickname.

The two made their way into Troy's truck, his very old truck. Troy held the driver's side door open for Ryan to climb into and then slide across the bench. Troy followed.

"Are you ever going to get a car that I can get in and out of on the right side?" Ryan asked as he buckled himself in.

"Oh yeah," Troy responded. "As soon as I have a job and am not paying out the ass for a college education, I'll think about it."

"Ooooh," Ryan said as he began poking Troy in the side and laughing. "Looks like someone isn't quite the morning person he pretends to be."

"It's not even the morning anymore," Troy replied, turning the ignition and pointing to the clock that lit up on the dashboard. "And you don't have to sit all the way over on the other side, you know."

"Well, if I want to make sure you keep your eyes on the road instead of on my irresistible body, I need to make sure I'm out of your line of sight," Ryan joked. He then moved to turn up the heat. When he turned the dial, nothing happened. He looked over at Troy who just smirked back at him.

"I didn't have a chance to tell you, the heat busted the other day," he said.

"Well that's just great," Ryan said, bring his jacket more tightly around him. "What are we supposed to do about that? I can see my breath."

"Well," Troy said slyly. "You could scoot closer and we could share the warmth." He looked over at the blond who was still firmly seated on the other side of the car. "Or you could just stay over there and be cold."

Ryan battled with himself for a moment before he need for warmth won out. He sighed and scooted over toward his smiling boyfriend. "Fine. You get your way this time," he said.

Troy just smiled and wrapped his arm around his shivering boyfriend as he pulled out of the driveway and toward the café downtown.

----------------------------------

The bell jangled over the door as the couple walked inside the small café. Troy and Ryan walked in, hand in hand, Ryan being huddled in closer to his boyfriend. Sure it was New Mexico, which meant that winters were mild at worst, but Ryan was not a fan of temperatures below 75 degrees. He must have really loved Troy to follow him to school in Oregon.

Troy looked over at his boyfriend, pulled him closer and rubbed his shoulder in a warming motion. He then looked up and spotted his large-haired friend in the back of the café sitting at a table with his girlfriend. He smiled and let Ryan know he had found their friends, who looked over to the table and waved.

The two walked over to their friends. As they approached, both Chad and Taylor stood up. When they were in arms length, Chad reached out and gave his friend a big, manly slap on the back and Ryan gave Taylor a nice hug.

"So, what have you been up to since you've been home?" Chad asked as he took his seat back. "I haven't seen much of you."

"Well," Troy responded, "I've only been home a few days. I have to catch up with my parents. My mom barely lets me out of the house. I think she's afraid that I'm not getting enough to eat while I'm at school—"

"Which is ridiculous," Ryan interjected. "She knows I'm there. And I make you eat." Then turning to Troy, he continued, "She just misses you. You should watch a movie with her or something."

"He's right," Taylor added. "It's the whole empty nest thing. She misses her boy and just wants to spend time with you. She's just using food as a way to keep you around."

Ryan sent Taylor a look that was probably standard between significant others of basketball players, current or otherwise. Troy and Chad just stared at each other, rolling their eyes at their "little women," as Chad would say.

"I guess I could watch something with her," Troy said. "She's been dying to see that one movie with that one actress in it."

"Very specific, Troy," Ryan said, shaking his head. "Your mom will love it."

"Well, it looks like nothing has changed," Chad said, laughing as he put his arm around his girlfriend. "Evans has still got you wrapped around his little finger."

Ryan grinned at Chad's assessment and leaned over to peck Troy on the cheek.

Both Chad and Taylor laughed as Troy frowned, his secret having been found out. Ryan just scooted his chair closer to his boyfriend and pinched his cheek. "Come on, Troy," he said. "Give us a smile."

Troy just stuck out his tongue and then grabbed Ryan and began administering tickle torture. Once the two had finished their mini-war, Chad broke back into conversation.

"So, Troy," he said. "You've got to tell me about this frat thing you're doing. What's it like? Any good parties? I hear things at those can get pretty wild."

Troy perked up. "Oh man, things are great," he said. "The guys there are great. But it really depends on what you're looking for …"

He continued talking about his time at the fraternity. Chad listed with unwavering attention and Taylor looked interested for the most part, but as the conversation continued, Ryan became more and more disinterested. Taylor would try to involve him in the conversation, noticing his lack of participation, but Ryan wouldn't have any of it.

Eventually, he excused himself, saying he was going to the counter to order a drink. Taylor took the opportunity to talk to Ryan on his own. He just didn't seem like his normal lively self.

Ryan came up to the counter and placed his order, then turned around when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He smiled when he saw Taylor standing behind him.

"Did you get tired of the guy talk, too?" Ryan asked.

"Actually," Taylor responded. "I was coming over to talk to you. Is there something going on with you and Troy? You just don't seem the same."

Ryan let out a sigh. This really wasn't something that was on the top of his 'to discuss' list. "I'd rather not talk about it," he said. "It's something I've talked to death with other people and I'd rather just forget about it while I'm at home, you know?"

"Yeah," Taylor agreed. "I get it. But if you do want to talk about it, you know you've got a ton of people around here who would be more than willing to listen."

"I know," Ryan said. "But enough about me and Troy. How are things with you and Chad? Is the long-distance thing working out all right?"

Taylor laughed. "I'd hardly call an hour apart long-distance, but we're doing pretty good," she said. "He's pretty busy with classes and basketball here, but he still comes to visit most weekends. He actually surprised me the other week and met me after my last class on a Tuesday to celebrate our anniversary."

Ryan was glad for his friend. He was happy that everything was coming up roses for her while his foot seemed to be stuck in the metaphoric dog crap. He really was.

Actually, if he were honest with himself, he would admit that he was jealous that things for Taylor and Chad had continued seamlessly from high school to college. They both knew what they were doing and where they stood with each other. As each week progressed he became more and more unsure of himself, both in terms of school and with Troy. How had his life come to this so quickly?

He slapped on a fake grin, however. All those years of drama really paid off when he needed them to. If he wanted to hide his emotions, he could, and no one was ever the wiser. Except his sister.

"That's awesome," he said. "I bet it was really romantic and everything."

"Well," Taylor started, while trying to suppress a laugh. "I wouldn't really call getting a burger courtside at a basketball game romantic, but it's the thought that counts. His heart was in the right place."

Ryan laughed along with her. Chad could be so predictable sometimes, but like she said, it was the thought that counted.

Their drinks then came up and the two friends returned to their boyfriends, who had now switched the topic of discussion to the difference between ICAA and Division I sports at a collegiate level. Something neither Taylor or Ryan had any knowledge or passion for, but the companionship continued for a while longer.

A lull in the conversation about a half hour later provided the perfect opportunity for Ryan to remind Troy that they had to meet some other people at the mall in a bit.

"It was great getting to catch up," Ryan said as he stood up from the table to give Taylor a hug. "We need to see each other again before we have to take off for school."

"We will," Taylor replied. "And remember. If you need to talk …" she let her statement trail off, her implications obvious. Ryan nodded as he waved goodbye, following Troy out to his truck.

-----------------------------

"So, what are you getting me for Christmas?" Troy asked his boyfriend, who was still sitting right next to him, as he pulled his truck into the parking lot of the biggest mall downtown.

"Troy," Ryan pouted. "You're not even trying to be sneaky about it. What makes you think I'm just going to tell you? What makes you think you're getting anything anyway?"

Troy gasped and looked affronted. "You wouldn't."

"I would," Ryan replied as he scooted to the other side of the truck and got out. "Now, hurry up or we're going to be late. And you know what Sharpay is like when you put a kink in her shopping schedule."

"Yikes," Troy said as he grabbed his boyfriend's hand and began walking into the massive building.

As they walked through the doors, festively decorated in tacky gold garland, Ryan took stock of the mall. It was funny while at the same time, a little sad. When he thought of Christmas he didn't so much think of how baby Jesus would have wanted a new cellular account at AT&T, but apparently that's what corporate America had decided that's what everyone should be thinking.

"We're supposed to meet everyone at the food court, right?" Troy asked, brining Ryan out of his reverie.

"Yeah," Ryan answered. "I can't wait to see everyone. I haven't seen Martha since graduation."

"Well, she did decide to start taking summer courses right away instead of waiting for the fall," Troy said as they started walking in the direction of the food court. "That would put a bit of a damper on your summer schedule."

Ryan shrugged noncommittally and continued walking. The two walked through the mall hand-in-hand, receiving some looks, mostly from the older couples, but neither of them paid much attention. They acted just as any other couple would. Ryan would make Troy stop every now and then to look in display windows and eventually Troy would pull them away and get them back on track.

Eventually, they reached the food court. It only took a few seconds before the spotted the always glamorous Sharpay in the sea of fashion-deprived Christmas shoppers.

"You're late," she said as the two approached the group of friends.

"I swear," Troy said, holding his hands up in defense. "It was not my fault. Ryan wanted to look at the winter apparel display at basically every store on the way here."

"Sell out," Ryan muttered as he moved away from Troy and over to his other friends.

Kelsi, Gabriella and Martha were all sitting at a table, their expressions brightening when they saw Ryan walking toward them. They all got up and moved to give him a hug. After the greetings were out of the way, they all sat back down and started catching up.

"Oh my gosh, Martha," Ryan said as he pulled his chair up to the table. "You look good. What are you doing out at school? I need to get into whatever it is you're doing to get looking that good."

His friend blushed, but smiled. "I just started taking this hip hop dance class at the rec center on campus. There are so many fun people there, and, hey, I guess looking better is just an added bonus."

"That and you can still pop, lock and jam with the best of them, huh?" Ryan laughed.

"What about you?" Kelsi piped in. "What have you been doing out in Oregon? Run into any covered wagons out there?"

Ryan laughed and leaned back in his chair. It was good to be back, the easy conversation and banter with his friends was something he missed immensely. "Oh yeah," he joked. "We just got running water and electricity in our dorm rooms earlier this term. Now we don't have to do our homework by candlelight."

They all laughed, and Gabriella slapped him playfully on the shoulder. "Seriously, Ry," she started. "What have you been up to?"

"Oh, you know," he replied. "A little bit here and a little bit there. I've met a lot of fun people, though. If you ever come out to visit, I'll have to introduce you to Meg and Leslie. They're so much fun. Crazy, but fun."

"I bet," Gabriella said, noticing that Ryan had done his best to avoid actually answering the question.

"Well," Kelsi said. "We better get going. We all have a ton of shopping to get finished."

The group of friends then split up. Troy going with Sharpay, Gabriella and Jason while Ryan went with Martha, Kelsi and Zeke. They were all supposed to find gifts for their significant others and then meet back up for dinner in a few hours. Troy gave Ryan a quick peck on the lips before heading off to the opposite end of the mall.

---------------------------------

Troy and his group of friends had been walking through the mall for over 90 minutes. His and Jason's arms were full of bags. Sharpay sure knew how to shop — Troy knew that — but it seemed as though she had begun to rub off on Gabriella.

"Come on you guys," Troy whined. "Haven't you got enough stuff already?"

Sharpay turned her head to take a look at the two young men following her and her brunette compatriot. "Oh, Troy," she said. "Where's that wildcat spirit you used to be so full of? I know you can carry three or four more bags."

"Whatever, Shar," Troy said. "I already have to be sure I can balance Ryan's present on my head. Speaking of which, I don't have said present yet."

Sharpay sighed, and looked around quickly. She spotted a bench nearby and motioned to it. "Well," she said. "I need to make a few calls. Jason can stay here and guard the bags while you drag Gabbi off to whatever store you're going to."

Troy threw a look over at the petite brunette who just shrugged her shoulders and gave him a slight smile. He followed Sharpay over to the bench and set down his bags. He then turned to Gabriella and looped his arm out for her to grab. "Care to join me, miss?"

"Why I'd love to," Gabriella said, trying to hide her laughter. Even though She and Troy had been broken up for more than a year and a half now, he was still quite the charmer.

The two began walking through the throngs of people, eyeing things in various store windows that caught their eyes. Gabbi pointed out a few clothing stores, but Troy always shook his head. Ryan didn't need any more clothes than he already had, and Troy wanted to find the perfect gift anyway.

"So, how are things with you and Ryan going?" Gabriella asked. The two hadn't talked much since break began, so she was taking the moment to catch up with her good friend.

"Things are going well," Troy said. "I've been really busy with fraternity stuff, but Ryan's making new friends and doing stuff."

The two continued walking, Gabbi not asking any more questions, just enjoying Troy's company. Then, out of the blue, Troy continued talking. "He's been acting a little weird since we've been home and apparently he's been sneaking out of the house at night and he hasn't told me anything about it."

"But things are good?" Gabriella questioned.

"Well, we're not fighting or anything, and, well, you know, _things_ are good," Troy said, blushing at his own implications.

"Oh God, Troy," Gabbi said as she swatted him on the shoulder. "I realize that we dated once, but there are some things I never, ever wanted to hear about. Even I'm not that well-adjusted."

The two continued talking about random things and catching up as they walked past more stores than they cared to count. Eventually, through all the commotion in the mall, Troy found the store he was looking for. He grinned and dragged his friend behind him, certain this would be the last store they'd have to set foot in for the rest of the day.

---------------------------

Another week had passed. The Evans family had just finished Christmas dinner. Troy had showed up at their house after, and now he and Ryan were upstairs in Ryan's bedroom, exchanging their own gifts.

"So, how was dinner with your aunt and uncle?" Ryan asked as he joined Troy on his bed. The two would normally have had Christmas dinner at one or the other's house, but this year, Troy's extended family had come into town and that threw their plans into a tailspin, but they were managing just fine now.

"Oh, you know how they are," Troy sighed as he flung himself down on the soft comforter. "Just like Cousin Eddie from 'Christmas Vacation.' I'm just glad that no one saw them. I'd be embarrassed forever."

"Come on, babe," Ryan said while laying his head on Troy's chest. "They can't be all that bad."

"Ryan," Troy said, putting his arm around his boyfriend's waist. "Do you have family members who wear black dickies under skin-tight white shirts? Do they own a dog named Snot?"

"Oh, Troy," Ryan said, laughing and lifting his head off the warm chest. "They do not."

"Okay," Troy sighed. "So I stole that from a movie … but still, Ry, it was awful. Don't ever make me do that alone ever again."

"I promise to be your knight in shining armor, sissy boy," Ryan said.

"Sissy boy?" Troy asked, pretending to be affronted. "I'll show you who's a sissy boy." And with that, he grabbed Ryan's arm and flipped him on his back. Troy then proceeded to straddle his boyfriend's squirming torso. "Who's the sissy now?"

Ryan just rolled his eyes. "You are," he said. Troy just grinned and leaned down to initiate a simple kiss. But, as most simple things usually turn out to be, the kiss didn't stay passion-free for long. Soon hands were tousling hair and running under shirts, tongues were battling and moans and gasps could be heard.

Eventually, the two pulled apart, both grinning madly at each other. "Well, do you want to exchange gifts now or do you just want to do that some more?" Ryan asked.

"I thought that was my gift to you," Troy said, still grinning.

"I guess I'll just have to return your gift then," Ryan said, turning on his side. "It's a shame, too. You probably would have liked it."

"Okay, okay," Troy said, pulling Ryan back to face him. "Go get the gift out of hiding."

"What about you?" Ryan questioned.

"Oh, I already have mine," Troy said smiling.

"It better not be something in your pants," Ryan deadpanned. "While I do enjoy that immensely, it's not really something I envisioned getting as a Christmas present."

"It's not that, perv," Troy said, swatting his boyfriend. "Now go, get and come back."

Ryan jumped off the bed and headed over to his closet. He grabbed a wrapped box and carried it over to his boyfriend. "Here you go," he said, handing it over to Troy.

Troy grabbed the box and began unwrapping it. Once the paper had been discarded, Troy lifted the lid off the box and began tearing back the tissue paper, revealing a sweatshirt. There was stitching on the front and soon realized they were his fraternity letters.

"How did you know where to get these?" Troy asked.

"I've been talking with Meg about your present for a while and she was telling me about how everyone in a fraternity gets their letters," he said, gesturing to the box. "We went to one of the shops in town to order them before we left. They just arrived a few days ago."

"Wait," Troy said, looking at the sweatshirt a little more closely. "These are my fraternity colors. How did you know to do that?"

"Give me a little credit, Troy," Ryan said. "It doesn't take a genius to figure it all out. That, and the store had a list."

"Well, I love it," Troy said, giving Ryan a quick kiss.

"Hey, there is more than one," Ryan said, picking up the first sweatshirt and pointing to the second. "I ordered the first one with your fraternity colors, but I got the second one with colors that bring out your natural features."

"Aw," Troy said. "Trust my boyfriend to keep me fashionable at all times."

"That's what I'm here for," Ryan agreed. "So … what did you get me?"

Troy chuckled at his boyfriend's eagerness and then reached into his pants pocket. "Hey," Ryan said, backing away from his boyfriend. "I thought you said it wasn't in your pants."

Troy then pulled a small box out of his pocket. A small velvet box. This silenced his boyfriend. "What is that?" Ryan asked.

"Why don't you open it and find out?" Troy said, handing the small box over to Ryan.

Ryan took a hold of the box and just looked at it for several moments. He looked back up at Troy and then back down at the box. He held his breath and moved to open the lid. He closed his eyes once more before finally opening the box.

Once he opened his eyes, he took a sharp intake of breath. Sitting in the soft cushion of the velvet box was a simple ring. From what Ryan could tell, it was white gold. It was simple. It was shiny. It was perfect.

"Oh my gosh," Ryan said, hardly able to form any other words.

"Here," Troy said, reaching to pluck the ring out of the box. He then grabbed Ryan's hand. "Can I?" Troy asked, indicating his desire to put it on his boyfriend's hand. Ryan just nodded.

Troy slipped the ring on his boyfriend's hand and then just stared at it. He looked back up at Ryan's face and saw a tear slipping out of the corner of his eye. "I got this for you because I wanted to let you know how much you mean to me."

"Troy—" Ryan began to protest, but was cut off.

"No," Troy said, gripping his boyfriend's hand even more tightly. "Let me do this. I want you to have something that you can look at whenever you want, even if I'm not around, and know how much I love you.

"It's a promise that no matter what, I'll always be there when you need me," he continued. "Always."

Ryan's face crumpled at that and he hurled himself into Troy's arms. "I love you _so_ much," Ryan sobbed into his boyfriend's shoulder. "So much."

Troy just smoothed over his boyfriend's hair and lay down with him. Whatever questions he had about Ryan's strange behavior as of late could wait. Right now, he just wanted to be with his boyfriend. "Merry Christmas, babe."

-------------------------------

**pdxKaden is now online (11:49:00 p.m.)**

**pdxKaden:** Hey

**jstrong87:** Hey, Kade. How's it going?

**pdxKaden:** Oh, you know … family stuff

**pdxKaden:** Did you get the card I sent?

**jstrong87:** Oh yeah, it was great. Thank you.

**pdxKaden:** No prob

**jstrong87:** So … what are you doing?

**pdxKaden:** Just being bored. Wishing I was back at school.

**jstrong87:** Man, me too … parents are so crazy. Not to mention my sister.

**jstrong87:** Things with my dad are really good, though … that's weird.

**pdxKaden:** Probably because now you have that good ol' fraternity to bond over.

**jstrong87:** Probably.

**jstrong87:** I miss you.

**pdxKaden:** I miss you, too.

**pdxKaden:** Actually … I wanted to talk to you about something.

**jstrong87:** Something bad?

**pdxKaden:** Well … I don't think so.

**jstrong87:** Ok … shoot.

**pdxKaden:** Well, I was thinking that when we get back to school sometime we could maybe … well, you know. We could …

**jstrong87:** could what?

**pdxKaden:** do it

**jstrong87:** do what?

**pdxKaden:** IT

**jstrong87:** …

**jstrong87:** OH!

**jstrong87:** IT

**pdxKaden:** God, this is so embarrassing

**pdxKaden:** I feel so stupid doing this online. I'm such a loser.

**jstrong87:** no no no no no

**jstrong87:** I'm sorry … I'm slow. It's not your fault.

**jstrong87:** I would love to, btw

**pdxKaden:** you would?

**jstrong87:** I would be stupid not to.

**pdxKaden:** really?

**jstrong87:** really

**pdxKaden:** Okay … well, I have to go to bed now (family stuff tomorrow) … but we will definitely talk about this more when I see you again.

**jstrong87:** definitely

**pdxKaden: **love you

**jstrong87:** goodnight

**jstrong87 is now offline**

**A/N: Woo! Finished with lucky chapter 13! So … for all of you who have been craving more Troy/Ryan and less Jeff/Kaden, I hope this chapter was good for you all. There is only one more chapter before the proverbial crap starts hitting the fan. Thanks to everyone who has continue to read and review. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

**fieryflame: **I would love to read something written by you. And don't worry about how you write. Different styles are what make reading so enjoyable.

**Shadow Cat17:** Things are only going to get worse before they get better … be prepared.

**Luckynumbr4:** It's true … every gay boy does need a best girl friend … I have three.

**uberpsi:** I hope this covers the extra cast you were talking about … lol

**Phoenix II:** I'm not sure what DLS stands for exactly, but I'm pretty sure I understand what you're talking about and my answer is … keep reading.


	14. Chapter 14

"I don't know how I feel about this outfit," Ryan complained as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. He was wearing a pair of extra tight Wranglers along with a red plaid shirt, a neckerchief and a cowboy hat. He had to admit, the jeans made his ass look great, but he wasn't too wild about dressing like a cowboy.

"You look great, Ry," Kaden said as he came up behind his friend. "You're going to have a great time at this dance."

Ryan heaved a sigh and then turned around. "Whoever thought of this concept anyway? A barn dance?" He just didn't understand why anyone would actually want to dress up like a bunch of hicks and dance to country music. Fraternities were weird, and he wasn't afraid to admit it.

Kaden had moved back to his side of the room and was now lying on top of his bed. "At least you get to do things with your boyfriend out in public. I don't even get that."

"Yeah," Ryan agreed. "But at least your boyfriend is actually making an effort to be with you. I'm lucky if I see Troy more than three times a week." Ryan then stopped to look at the ring that was still sitting upon his finger. It had been a month since Troy had given him the gift and it didn't seem like he was doing too much to actually keep the promise he made to Ryan that night.

It was two weeks into the winter term and this dance was going to be the first opportunity Ryan had to spend an extended period of time with Troy. The dance was supposed to be the big party celebrating the end of initiation week. Troy was now officially a member of Sigma Phi Gamma and while he was excited about it, Ryan couldn't help but feel even more removed from Troy's new college life.

"Well," Ryan said as he sat down at his desk to check his email one more time before leaving. "I feel ridiculous."

"But you look sexy," came a disembodied voice from the other side of the room. Ryan rolled his eyes and turned away from the computer screen to see his boyfriend standing there in all his cowboy glory. He got up and walked over to his boyfriend to give him a welcome kiss.

When Troy pulled away from his boyfriend, he turned Ryan to his side and tilted his head so he could inspect his appearance. "Hmm," Troy said, seeing how the jeans hugged his boyfriend's already perky rear end. "Very nice."

Ryan just blushed and turned brought Troy's attention back to his face. "You are such a perv," he said, smiling. "It's a good thing I like it when you look at me like that."

Troy just smiled and reached his arms around his boyfriend, his hands resting on Ryan's denim-clad butt. "We're going to have tons of fun tonight," Troy whispered into his boyfriend's ear. "And even though everyone will be staring at you because you're so hot, they'll all know that you're taken."

The blond shivered as Troy's breath ghosted across his ear. "I look like a hick," Ryan said. "No one is going to be paying any attention to this."

"Whatever you say," Troy finished, shaking his head. Ryan could be so stubborn sometimes. If he didn't want to think he was hot, Troy wasn't going to try to convince him. But they were still going to have a good time.

"We better get going," Troy said, then turning toward Kaden, he added, "Now don't you and Jeff cause any trouble tonight. We're leaving you in charge and trust you to conduct yourself as a gentleman."

Kaden just rolled his eyes and threw a pillow at the brunette. "Hey!" Troy exclaimed as he dodged the flying object. "Watch it. I've got to keep the outfit it good condition or people might think Ryan's been trying to molest me."

"Ha, ha," Ryan said. "Very funny. Let's get going before your funny bone gets us in trouble." And with that, he dragged his laughing boyfriend from his dorm room.

-------------------------------

"Ryyyyyyyaaaaaaaan!!!"

The blond smiled as he heard the ever-recognizable voice of Meg yelling through the open banquet room. Even though the room was full of dancing people, standing people and people in various states of intoxication, Ryan could still hear her, loud and clear. Ryan and Troy were only about 15 minutes late, but apparently, Meg had gotten into the good stuff a lot earlier than that. This promised to be a good night.

The leggy brunette stumbled her way over to the two young men and threw her arms around Ryan. "Oh my gosh, Ry," she slurred, "You have got to try the jungle juice. It's amazing."

"I can tell," Ryan replied, smiling and helping to hold his friend upright. She probably wasn't going to be with them for that much longer. He looked over at his boyfriend, "I'm going to help her to a chair. Don't go off and lose yourself in the crowd while I'm gone."

Troy smiled and shook his head. "I'm just going to get us some drinks. I'll be back here in just a sec."

Ryan then returned his attention back to his friend. "Oh Meg," he said. "What am I ever going to do with you?"

"Well," she said, obviously still drunk. "You could ditch Troy and run away with me. We'll find a nice tropical island and drink pina coladas every day and stare at the beach boys. It'll be great."

"I don't doubt it," Ryan said, maneuvering them through the crowd of people. "But how about we just sit over here for a few minutes and rest."

"Oh Ryan," Meg said, patting the blond on the cheek. "You're so good to me. No matter Troy loves you so much; you're just the sweetest thing."

Ryan laughed as he sat his friend down in one of the chairs that was conveniently lined along the perimeter of the room. "I do what I can," he said. He then began looking around the room, trying to find Meg's boyfriend and get his attention.

After a few minutes, he finally found Greg and was able to wave him over. "Here," Ryan started, handing Meg over to her boyfriend. "I think you're going to have to take her home pretty soon."

Greg gladly took her and Ryan waved goodbye to Meg, who weakly waved back. She was not going to have a good night, or a good morning for that matter, were Ryan's thoughts as he walked back over to the dance floor to find Troy.

"Hey, hey!" a voice off to Ryan's side said. Ryan turned around to see a smiling Parker standing next to who he could only assume was his boyfriend, Kyle. The two walked over to the blond, Parker dragging his boyfriend with him. "Ryan! I want you to meet Kyle; Kyle, this is Ryan, Troy's boyfriend."

Kyle nodded, smiled and extended his hand for Ryan to shake. Ryan smiled and exchanged pleasantries, but never stopped looking around for his boyfriend. There was something about Parker that just "weirded" Ryan out. There wasn't anything specific, and it's not like Parker was creepy, he just represented something that Ryan wasn't too keen on to begin with.

All of a sudden he felt an arm snake around his waist. He turned and came face to face with his smiling boyfriend who promptly handed him a red drink. "Here, it's jungle juice," Troy said. "You'll like it. I promise." Ryan sniffed the drink quickly then took a sip. It actually didn't taste too bad.

Troy then turned to see with whom Ryan was talking. "Oh hey, Kyle," Troy said, smiling and extending his hand to shake Kyle's. "I didn't know you were going to be here."

"Yeah," Kyle said. "Parker here made me promise I'd be here after my poor showing at the pong tournament last week."

"Oh yeah," Troy said, snickering at the memory. "That was pretty pathetic."

"Just because we all can't be pong champs like some people," Kyle replied giving Troy the stink eye. "I'll get you next time. Promise."

Troy laughed and nodded his head. He then turned his attention back to his boyfriend and saw that he was almost finished with the drink he brought. "Whoa," Troy said, taking the cup away from Ryan. "You better take it slow with these. It might not taste like it, but there is more alcohol in that than anything else."

Ryan just raised his eyebrow and gazed toward the dance floor. Troy saw where his boyfriend was looking and nudged him a little. "You want to dance?" Troy asked, smiling, knowing that's what his boyfriend wanted.

Ryan smiled and began dragging his boyfriend out to the floor. Troy gave a quick wave to Parker and Kyle, the latter of whom was laughing at how whipped the both of them were.

Once out on the floor, Ryan let the music begin to wash over him. It had been a long time since he'd just been able to let go and dance. He felt as Troy came up and pressed his body against Ryan's, the two of them moving to the beat. Ryan closed his eyes and raised his arms above his head for a moment before bringing the back down to rest on his boyfriend's shoulders.

He leaned his head back as he swung his hips. He removed his hands from Troy's body and began to slowly turn around so that his back was flush against his boyfriend's chest. Troy wrapped his arms around the blond's waist as they continued to move to the pulsing bass of the club music that was playing.

Ryan leaned his head back so it was resting on Troy's shoulder. "Why are they playing club music at a barn dance?" Ryan asked.

Troy shrugged. "Playing country doesn't really give you an opportunity to commit any lewd acts with your dance partner." He emphasized his words by drawing Ryan closer to him. Ryan felt as Troy's hips continued rubbing against his now heated body.

"I guess not," Ryan agreed, smiling, his eyes still closed as he just enjoyed dancing with his boyfriend.

Soon enough, the music changed. A slow dance. Ryan turned around in Troy's arms and placed his hands on the brunette's chest. He then began looking around and watched as many different couples came onto the floor and others paired off. He watched as Parker and Kyle came out to the floor, which reminded him of something he wanted to ask Troy.

"I didn't know you met Kyle," Ryan said.

"Oh yeah," Troy replied as he looked over to where Ryan was focused. "I met him at the house last week—"

"During a pong tournament," Ryan interrupted. "I heard. What's a pong tournament anyway?"

"It's kind of like ping pong, but with cups of beer on each side of the table," Troy explained.

"I still don't get it," Ryan said as he furrowed his brow in confusion. "How come you didn't invite me? Kyle was there so it wasn't like it was a frat guy only thing."

Troy looked down at his boyfriend and frowned. "I didn't think you'd want to be there," he said. "It's not like you're a huge fan of the whole fraternity thing."

"I'm here, aren't I?" Ryan asked, getting a little frustrated with his boyfriend. "Besides, you know I've been bugging you about hanging out lately. I would have gone just to be with you."

"You would really come and hang out in a dank basement and shoot ping pong balls into cups of beer just to hang out with me?" Troy asked, smiling and pulling his boyfriend even closer to him.

"Look," Ryan started. "I don't want to argue with you while we're here. Just remember me the next time you're doing something like that." Troy nodded and leaned down to plant a quick kiss on his boyfriend's cheek.

Ryan then lay his head back down on Troy's shoulder, smiling as he closed his eyes again and let Troy lead him to the music.

---------------------------------

Kaden rushed around the room tidying up things, clearing of counters, smoothing out his comforter and checking himself in the mirror. Jeff would be there any minute now and Kaden wanted everything to be perfect.

Tonight was going to be the night. Ryan and Troy were going to be out, probably all night, and neither he or Jeff had anything to do tomorrow. They'd be able to sleep over and wake up next to each other. So romantic.

He had a few candles on the nightstand next to his bed. He knew if he had too many it would come off as girly, but he thought that just a few would be for good measure. It would set the mood and his first time would be something to remember. Just like in the storybooks.

Kaden was sitting nervously on his bed, fidgeting slightly when he heard the knock on the door. He got up and walked slowly to the entryway, brushing off invisible lint from his shirt. He opened the door to find Jeff standing there with a single long-stem rose, a soft smile gracing his lips.

The blond stepped to the side, allowing his boyfriend to come into the room. Kaden softly closed the door and turned around to find his boyfriend staring at him. He walked over to Jeff and took the rose he was offering. He brought it up to his nose and took a deep breath of its scent before placing it down next to the candles on his nightstand.

He then turned around and looked at his boyfriend as he put his hands in Jeff's. "So," he started awkwardly, "what do we do now?"

Jeff blushed and moved to sit down on Kaden's bed. He pulled Kaden with him and into his lap. "Well," he started. "I've never done this before. So why don't we just take things slowly and just go on from there?"

Kaden smiled and leaned in to kiss his boyfriend. He sighed as he felt Jeff's arms come up and wrap around his body. Soon, they fell to the bed, Kaden on top of Jeff, whose arms were still wrapped tightly around him. He soon opened his mouth to allow Jeff's tongue to enter his mouth.

Jeff always tasted of mint, but there was a hint of something uniquely him. Kaden could never seem to get enough of it either. He allowed his boyfriend to maneuver them around so he was laying on his back. As long as it meant he didn't have to stop, he would let Jeff do whatever he wanted. He felt as Jeff's hand began creeping under his shirt.

He loved it when Jeff touched him. It wasn't very often they got to do that and so he relished every opportunity. They continued kissing, breaking every once in a while to remove a piece of clothing.

After several minutes the two of them were laying on the bed clad only in their boxers, Jeff's hands were roaming all over Kaden's body. Eventually, he pulled back to look into Kaden's eyes. They were staring back up at him with all the trust in the world.

Kaden looked up at his boyfriend. He looked so cute with his hair tousled like that, and his chest was rising and falling rapidly. He looked like he was definitely enjoying this. Kaden smiled and ran his hand down Jeff's chest.

Jeff leaned down to kiss Kaden, then kissed his nose, trailing up to his eyes and then over to his ear where he whispered, "I want to see you without your clothes."

Kaden, who still had his eyes closed, smiled and whispered back. "I'm only wearing my boxers. I'm pretty sure you're seeing more of me than you ever have."

"I want to take your boxers off," Jeff whispered back. "I want to see everything."

"Then go ahead and do it," Kaden replied as he lifted his hips up and off the bed. Jeff hesitated for only a moment before he moved his hands down to hook his thumbs in the waistband of his boyfriend's boxers. He looked back up into Kaden's face and licked his lips nervously before looking back down to his goal, then slowly slipped the fabric from Kaden's hips.

There was a sharp intake of breath as Jeff took in Kaden's nude form. His gaze roamed every exposed part of his boyfriend and then lingered on the most recently revealed area. Kaden began blushing under his boyfriend's scrutiny and started looking around the room trying to find something else on which to focus and moving his arms to cover himself, but was stopped by Jeff's hands. When he looked back up at his boyfriend's face, he saw that Jeff's gaze was now fixed on his face.

"You look beautiful," Jeff said with barely concealed reverence. This only caused Kaden to blush an even deeper red.

"Can I see you?" Kaden asked softly.

Jeff nodded and began to move his hands to the waistband of his boxers when a light touch on his arm stopped him. "Let me," Kaden said, then moved his hands down to Jeff's underwear. He took a deep breath and then slid the garments off Jeff's firm, smooth hips.

Kaden gulped when he finally got a good look at his boyfriend without the restrictions of any clothing. He was impressive. Kaden felt his pulse quicken when he realized that if everything went right that evening he would know exactly how impressive his boyfriend could be. He looked back up at Jeff and smiled nervously.

"Are you sure?" Jeff asked, noticing the look in his boyfriend's eyes.

"More than sure," Kaden said, trying to reassure both his boyfriend and himself. "I love you." Jeff just smiled and then leaned down to kiss Kaden.

----------------------------------

Much later, the door to the room opened and a slightly tipsy Troy and Ryan entered into the room. Ryan stopped a second, taken aback by the smell that could only have been the distinct smell of sex. He looked around the dark room and then found the mass on Kaden's bed that, upon further inspection, revealed to be a very naked Jeff and Kaden.

Ryan tapped his boyfriend on the shoulder and pointed over to the side of the room. Troy looked over and smirked. "I guess now they won't be able to corner the market on naked roommate jokes," he said.

Ryan just chuckled, but walked over to the bed to bring the comforter over his roommate and his apparently new lover. Tomorrow was definitely going to be interesting. He was probably going to be talking with Kaden until late in the night.

But tomorrow morning would be a different story. "We're going to have fun when we all wake up tomorrow," Ryan said as he walked toward Troy who was already stripping by his boyfriend's bed.

"I know," Troy said, smiling. "I've been waiting for an opportunity like this … well, since we moved here. I mean, when we all first me, they practically caught us going at it. And that doesn't even count every time since then."

"Payback's going to be a bitch," Ryan said.

He removed his shirt and wranglers, leaving them on the floor for tomorrow and climbed into his bed next to his boyfriend.

"You really do look good in those jeans," Troy said as he wrapped his arms around Ryan and snuggled into his back.

"Just go to sleep," Ryan said shaking his head. He'd have to hide those jeans at the bottom of his bureau. Hopefully Troy would forget about them in time. He looked over at his roommate one more time and smiled before closing his eyes and resigning himself to the sleep that was begging for him.

--------------------------------

Kaden woke slowly the next morning and felt covered in a warmth that was more than what his comforter provided. Then it all came rushing back to him when he moved to stretch and dull pain in his rear. He smiled to himself and moved under his sheets so he could face his boyfriend.

He smiled when he saw that Jeff was still asleep. He raised his arm to brush some of Jeff's hair out of his face and smiled even wider when his boyfriend just burrowed his face more deeply into his pillow.

Last night had been wonderful. They had fumbled around at first, neither having any actual experience to draw from, but eventually they worked everything out and it had been great. Jeff had been so gentle and stopped every time Kaden became too over whelmed by everything. Eventually, they had both collapsed on each other shivering from what they had just done.

Now Kaden propped his head up on his arm so that he could just take in his boyfriend. During his movements, the covers had bunched up around him and now he felt a small draft around his back, which probably meant that he was mooning the other side of the room, but he didn't care.

Until he heard the low whistle coming from his roommate's bed. His eyes widened as he turned over to see Ryan and Troy both looking over at the two of them.

"Oh God," Kaden groaned, closing his eyes and feeling his cheeks heating up.

"Nice peep show," Ryan said. "Wouldn't you agree, Troy?"

"Oh definitely," Troy said, resting his chin on his boyfriend's shoulder. "How do you keep your hands to yourself with a roommate like that, babe?"

"It takes great control," Ryan said, feigning a serious tone. "But like I've said before, my resolve is like steel."

By this time Kaden was pulling the comforter back to cover his entire body and turning to face his friends. "Are you guys quite finished?" he asked.

The two looked at each other, shrugged and then looked back over to the other side of the room, both saying "no" in unison and smiling when Kaden buried his entire head under his pillow.

Jeff then chose this moment to wake up, and like most teenage boys, he was horny. It was a morning thing. He moved closer to his boyfriend and pressed his hips into the warm form next to him. He brought his arms around Kaden's waist to bring him closer but was surprised when his boyfriend began struggling against him.

He opened his eyes, frowning, ready to find out what was going on when Kaden whispered, "Not right now, Jeff."

"Why not?" Jeff asked, still trying to pull Kaden closer to him.

"Because we have company," Kaden replied smoothly. At that Jeff's eyes widened and he lifted his head to see over his boyfriend. He was greeted with the smiling forms of Ryan and Troy as they waved from across the room.

"Oh God," Jeff said, flopping back down onto the mattress.

"Exactly," Kaden said.

"Oh look, Troy," Ryan said from his position on his bed. "They're just like blushing virgins. How cute."

"I know," Troy said sweetly, then motioned to the candles that were on Kaden's nightstand, he continued. "And I bet those are vanilla scented." Troy's guess was only confirmed when Kaden blushed even more furiously.

"Are you guys finished yet?" Kaden mumbled, his face still buried in his pillow.

"Well," Ryan started. "I guess we could stop for now. I'm kind of hungry. What do you think Troy?"

"I'm pretty hungry, too," Troy replied. "How about we all get dressed and then get something to eat? We can wait out in the hall for you two to find all your clothes."

Ryan then threw the covers off him and got up to rummage through his bureau, looking for a sweatshirt and some jeans to throw on quickly. He tossed Troy some clothes from the bottom shelf and the two proceeded to get dressed.

"We'll wait outside for you," Ryan said once the two of them were finished. "But if you take too long, we'll come back inside. You don't want to mess with Troy when he's hungry."

The two then walked out of the room. Kaden looked over at Jeff and sighed. "We better get ready," he said. "I don't even want to know what they'll pull if we don't."

With that, he got out of bed, but was stopped by Jeff's hand on his arm. He turned back around and saw his boyfriend looking up at him. "I really had a great time last night," Jeff said.

Kaden smiled and leaned back over to place a kiss on his boyfriend's soft lips. "I did, too," he replied. "Now, let's get dressed."

The two got up and fished around for their clothes, kissing one last time before they left the room to meet their friends for breakfast.

-------------------------------------

After breakfast, which was filled with much reverie and joking, Troy and Jeff left their boyfriends to go back to their room. Ryan and Kaden went to theirs as well and began working on a few assignments, neither one talking much to the other.

Ryan was seated at his desk, typing up a paper that was due later that week when he felt a nudge in his shoulder. He turned to see Kaden standing there with a box of Wheat Thins. "I thought you might want to talk about stuff," Kaden said, smiling. "We haven't had a chance since before break."

Ryan smiled and nodded. He moved over to his bed and waited for Kaden to join him. "And you even remembered the boy-talk food," Ryan said. "I've taught you well, little one."

"Ha," Kaden said. "Except these aren't the regular kind. They're tomato basil. But they taste just as good," he rushed out, hoping Ryan wouldn't mind a change in the pattern.

"Hmm," Ryan said as he evaluated the box. "A new cracker for a new part of your life. It's fitting." The two smiled at each other and settled down for a nice chat.

"So," Ryan began. "How was it?" At seeing Kaden's hesitation to answer, he clarified his question. "I'm not fishing for details, I was just wondering if you enjoyed yourself. My first time was so awkward."

Kaden smiled at his friend. "It was awkward at first, but we took things slowly and just went from there. He was really sweet about everything. He even brought me a rose."

"Ah, flowers," Ryan said, getting a far away look in his eyes. "The fastest way to a gay boy's heart … and his pants."

Kaden laughed. His roommate certainly did have a strange sense of humor. But he loved it nonetheless. "How about you?" Kaden asked. "How was the barn dance?"

Ryan thought back. "Well," he started. "I'm going to have to hide those jeans I worse last night because I think Troy has developed a fetish for them, but I can't stand them."

"They do make you look good in all the right places, though," Kaden said. When Ryan shot him a glare, he held up his hands in mock surrender. "Whoa, I was just telling the truth, but if you don't like them, by all means burn them or something. I'll get the matches."

"Good," Ryan said. "But anyway, the dance was a lot of fun. There were so many drunk people there. It was great."

"Was Meg there?" Kaden asked.

"Oh yeah," Ryan said, reaching into the box of crackers and grabbing a few. "By the time we got there she was already plastered. I sat with her for a few minutes before I found her boyfriend and handed her off."

Kaden nodded as he popped a few of the crackers into his mouth. "Hey," Ryan said, pointing at the crackers in his hands. "These are pretty good."

"I told you," Kaden said. "But what else? There had to have been more to the dance than just waiting with Meg as she passed out on the sidelines."

"Well," Ryan said. "We danced for quite a while. Which was great because I haven't gotten to just dance in such a long time. I also met Parker's boyfriend and found out that Troy is apparently the best beer pong player that his fraternity has ever seen."

"What's beer pong?" Kaden asked.

"I don't know," Ryan sighed. "Troy tried explaining it to me last night, but I just don't get it. All I know is that you get really drunk when you play it."

"Hmm," Kaden said. "Sounds weird. But I bet it could be fun."

"Yeah, Ryan said, frowning, remembering something that had happened last night. "Apparently these things are open to everyone, not just the brothers, but Troy hasn't been inviting me. He says I won't enjoy myself."

"Really?" Kaden asked. "That doesn't sound like Troy."

"Well, it's what I found out last night," Ryan said. "I asked him about it, but then I just started getting angry, so I told him I didn't want to talk about it anymore."

Kaden furrowed his brow as if thinking the situation over in his mind. "You know," he started. "If it's really something that's bothering you, it's probably better to talk about it than to just ignore it."

"I know," Ryan said, digging his hand further into the box of crackers he was still holding. "I just don't get it. He knows that I've been complaining about not getting to spend a lot of time with him and then he goes and pulls something like that.

"I mean, isn't it sad that the most time I've spent with my boyfriend since we've gotten back to school was at a dance last night?"

Kaden had to admit, he had seen much less of Troy recently than he had at the beginning of the year and he didn't like how that made Ryan all mopey and less Ryan-like. He hadn't said anything to Troy, but was it really his place to do that? Maybe he would mention something just so his friend could be happy.

"I think you two just need to sit down and talk about stuff," Kaden said sympathetically, hoping that they could just work it out themselves and he wouldn't have to get involved or anything messy like that. He knew that neither of them was trying to hurt the other, but that's what was happening because neither of them was taking the time to talk to each other about it.

"Yeah," Ryan sighed. "But if he breaks one more date, I'm going to string him up by his toes. You know he's already cancelled on me three times since we've gotten back. I feel like I'm the other woman or something."

Kaden laughed. "You know he's probably just preoccupied with something. I'm sure all you need to do is talk to him. And remind me to never get on your bad side," he said, snatching the box of crackers from his friend's hands.

"I don't have a bad side," Ryan said haughtily while striking a pose. "Every side is just as perfect as the other."

Kaden just rolled his eyes. When he wanted to, Ryan could act a lot more like his sister than he would ever care to admit, but it was humorous all the same. The two roommates continued talking about boys and classes and pretty much anything else for quite some time, going through the entire box of crackers. It was apparently something they both needed, and they weren't going to deny the other a chance to get something off of his chest. They worked well that way.

**A/N: Hey guys and gals, I'm sorry this took so long to get out this week, but I had a 20-page ethics paper that was eating my soul. Anyway … so, Jeff and Kaden finally took the plunge. And what the heck is going on with Troy and Ryan? All questions I'm sure you've got and hopefully they'll be answered soon. Enjoy!**

**bobrabbit100:** Sorry the answer to Ryan's mystery disappearances in the last chapter weren't answered this time, but they will be soon. Keep a look out.

**Spice of Life:** I'm glad you enjoyed the story enough to stay up until 3 a.m. to finish what I had done so far. Hopefully you won't be up so late finishing this chapter. Hope you enjoy it!

**uberpsi:** I'm glad you love Meg and Leslie! I have a special place in my heart for the two of them. And I'm glad you love the banter between the characters. I think that's how a lot of people interact with one another, so I like to portray that in what I write.

**Luckynumbr4:** I wish I had a boyfriend like him, too. pouts

**fieryflame:** I'm glad you liked the ring scene so much! Ryan's mysterious adventures will be revealed later … promise.

**Phoenix II:** OOOH! You caught onto something really important! You'll probably notice something in this chapter, too.

**JustAnAmateur:** I hope you enjoyed more of both couples in this chapter. Also, I hope you enjoyed the Jeff/Kaden scene in this chapter. Sometimes sex or sex allusion scenes are just for fun, but I thought this was a really important one … especially in regards to what happens later in the story.


	15. Chapter 15

Jeff pinned Kaden on his bed and smiled before leaning down and placing a soft kiss on his boyfriend's waiting lips. Things between the two of them had been really good over the last few weeks. One could find them at either Kaden's or Jeff's room most evenings, which would usually end in a sleepover. Much to Ryan's chagrin, who was, more often than not, falling asleep all by his lonesome.

Kaden had been over at his boyfriend's room for the last few hours under the pretext of studying together for midterms that were coming up. Of course, there was very little studying going on. Well, that's a lie, what they were doing could probably be construed as anatomy by some people. Unfortunately, those people were few and far between.

And so their studying of one another continued unabated. For many minutes, the only sound that could be heard in the dorm room were the soft sighs and the smacking of lips of two boys in some sort of love.

Eventually, Jeff settled down onto the bed, spooning up behind Kaden as the two of them caught their breath and tried to calm themselves. The two had been extra careful to not be caught by their roommates since their first time. One day of absolute humiliation had been enough for them.

"So," Jeff said, rubbing his cheek on his boyfriend's shoulder, "how are things going?"

Kaden smiled and placed his hands over Jeff's, which were wrapped around his waist. "Well, that depends," he started. "Classes are going well. Stressful, but good overall. Then there's Ryan …"

Ryan and Troy had been having a rough go of things lately and Kaden and Jeff were witness to pretty much everything. The yelling, the crying — mostly on Ryan's part — the attempts at giving the could shoulder, and them make ups. Needless to say, it was wreaking havoc on the two of their roommates.

"What happened this time?" Jeff asked, bracing himself for another one of Kaden's epic stories about their two friends.

"It all started out as a nice day," Kaden began. "The birds were singing, the sun was shining, and all was right with the world. I got up early that morning to study for my econ midterm and Ryan was getting ready; you know, picking out his day outfit and then his date outfit for later all while singing something that sounded like _La Vie Boheme_."

"So, everything as usual?" Jeff asked, smirking. Ryan had some of the most awkward habits, but they all combined to make someone uniquely loveable.

"Basically," Kaden said, remember the events of the morning pulling his boyfriends arms more tightly around his waist. "Then came the phone call."

"Uh oh," Jeff said. That was never a good sign. At least recently.

"Pretty much," Kaden sighed. "Troy called. I didn't even have to wait for the yelling to start to know what was going on. I closed my book and raised the pillow to cover my chest before he started throwing things this time."

"He does not throw anything," Jeff said, poking his boyfriend in the side.

"I know," Kaden replied, "but I figure the more heroic I make myself sound the more you'll try to make me feel better later."

Then Kaden moved himself so that he was facing Jeff rather than away from him, but made sure to keep Jeff's arms wrapped around him. It made them look cute, and Kaden was all about making them look cute.

"Troy called to break another date, didn't he?" Jeff asked, giving his boyfriend a sympathetic look. He knew what kind of a toll this was having on Kaden. He wished the two of them would just figure things out. He didn't know how much more he could handle this, and he didn't even deal with it that much.

"Yeah," Kaden said. "This is like the third time this week he's done this. As soon as he hung up, Ryan just flopped down on his bed. He didn't even cry this time. I tried talking to him, but he'd only give me one or two word answers. Then he just got up and left for class."

Kaden then let out a deep breath and rested his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. "I don't know how much more Ryan is going to take before he just blows up all over the place. I'm worried for both of them."

"I know what you mean," Jeff said. "Do you remember the first time you met them?"

Kaden chuckled. "Yeah. I was walking through the hall and ran into Ryan, then Troy followed up behind him. They were the cutest couple I had ever seen. I thought they were perfect. I never even saw them get into an argument until a few weeks into school. And even then, it was only over something about French fries."

"I know," Jeff said. "I didn't think anything like this would ever happen to them. Do you think this is just part of growing up and growing apart?"

Kaden shook his head and frowned. "God, I hope not," he said. "I mean, if not even they can make it, and let's admit it, they are basically the most perfect couple ever, then what hope do mere mortals like us have?"

"You're right," Jeff said, bringing his boyfriend's head closer to his lips so he could place a soft kiss in his hair. "They'll work things out and everything will be just fine."

"I hope you're right," Kaden said. "I don't know how Ryan would handle something like that. I don't think he's adjusting too well. I think Troy is the only thing he's holding on to right now and he thinks Troy is slipping away."

Jeff felt a shiver travel down the back of his spine. He didn't want to talk about this anymore. "Look," he started. "Let's talk about something else, okay?"

"Yeah," Kaden said. "I have other depressing things to think about. Like supply and demand and why it's relevant to me at all. It is, right?"

Jeff just laughed. "I'm sure it is," he said, brushing the fringe out of his boyfriend's face. "And don't worry about the test. You've been studying all week long. You'll do great."

Kaden just smiled and leaned into his boyfriend, kissing him lightly on the lips. Whatever troubles were going on with their friends or in their classes, at least they had right now, where everything was just perfect between the two of them.

----------------------------------

Troy was sitting in the middle of the coffee shop in the student union, sipping on his cup of coffee — black, no sugar, just like he liked it. He was getting more and more nervous as every minute passed. He'd been sitting in the café for about 15 minutes and Ryan had yet to show up, and that wasn't like him at all. Ryan was always very punctual, especially when it had to do with Troy. This was probably not going to be a good day.

He sat at the small table for a few more minutes before he say Ryan walk through the entrance. Instead of going to the counter and ordering a drink, he just made his way to where Troy was sitting and sat down. There were no pleasantries exchanged; he just sat there and looked at Troy expectantly.

"So," Troy started out nervously, "do you want me to get you something to drink?"

"I would have gotten it myself if I wanted something," Ryan said, showing very little emotion other than frustration. "I just came here to see what you wanted before I went to class."

Troy let out a sigh. He knew this was going to be difficult, but Ryan sure wasn't helping the situation at all. "Look," he said, "I realize I've been blowing you off lately and I'm sorry. It's just I have so much stuff I have to do with classes and the fraternity and everything—"

"I get it, Troy," Ryan cut him off. "You've made it abundantly clear what's important right now, and I get that I'm taking a back seat. Whatever."

Troy then leaned closer to his boyfriend and placed his hands over Ryan's, which were lying on the table top. "That's not it at all, Ry," he said. "You never take a backseat. Never."

"Well, it sure as hell doesn't feel like that, Troy," Ryan said, pulling his hands out from under his boyfriend's.

"I'm sorry," Troy said, pulling back and leaning against his chair. "I never meant to make you feel like that. You know how much I love you, Ryan."

"I do," Ryan said, heaving a great sigh. "I'm just not sure you have enough time for me anymore."

This was not going the way Troy wanted. He wanted Ryan to come here and apologize. Then they could kiss and make up and everything would go back to the way it was. Now, instead of the happy, relieved feeling he was expecting, there was a growing knot forming in the pit of his stomach. None of it was very reassuring.

"That's not true, Ry," Troy said, reaching out for his boyfriend's hand again. This time, Ryan didn't try to take his hand away. "You know I would do anything in the world for you — absolutely anything."

"I know, Troy," Ryan said, letting a small smile grace his lips for the first time since he entered the coffee shop. "It's just everything is just … ugh. Nevermind."

Troy got up from his seat and moved around to the other side of the table to sit next to his boyfriend. "No," he said. "Tell me what's going on. You know you can tell me anything. Anytime."

"Look," Ryan said. "Just drop it. We can talk about it more tonight when we go to that concert on the waterfront." Then looking over at his boyfriend he asked, "You did remember about our date tonight, didn't you?"

"Uh …" Troy started, blushing and turning away from his now scowling boyfriend. "I kind of told some of the guys I would take the fifth spot on the IM basketball team tonight. They're really counting on me."

"I'm really counting on you, too, Troy," Ryan said, leaning away from his boyfriend. He looked like he was close to tears. And Evanses never showed weaknesses like that in public.

"I know, but I—" Troy started but was cut off by an irate looking Ryan.

"I don't want any excuses, Troy," Ryan seethed. "I've had it with them. You say you're going to be there for me when I need you and then you go and do everything else and you're not there, Troy. You're not."

"But—" Troy tried.

"No," Ryan said emphatically, pushing his chair back with enough force to knock it over as he stood up from the table. "I don't need this. I don't want this. And I'm not going to stick around to see it all fall apart."

It was then that Troy stood up, too. This was not good, not good at all. "What are you saying, Ry?"

"I'm saying, Troy," he started, "that I don't want to play second fiddle. I don't want to be the person who waits all day by the phone for his boyfriend to call only to find out that he was too busy with basketball to bother with me."

"You're not being fair," Troy pleaded. "You know that's not what I think—"

"It may not be how you think, but it's sure as hell how you're acting," Ryan said.

People around the shop were now staring at the arguing couple. Their voices had progressively gotten louder as the conversation had continued and now they were loud enough for everyone to hear as they aired their dirty laundry.

"Look," Ryan said. "I love you. But right now, I don't want to see you. Actually, I don't want to see you again until you can act like a boyfriend. I thought we had gotten over this during break, but apparently I was wrong." Tears were now streaming down Ryan's face.

"Just leave me alone," he said as he turned away from Troy and began making his way out of the café.

Troy watched as his boyfriend walked away, then stopped and turned around. He felt his heart lighten a bit at the fact that Ryan was coming back, but then felt it plummet even further into the depths of his body as he saw what Ryan was doing.

He watched as Ryan placed the ring he had given him over break on the table and then looked up at Troy through his tears. "It's easier this way," Ryan said. He then wrapped his arms tightly around his body and gave Troy a broken smile as he turned and walked out of the shop, not once turning back.

Troy just looked at the ring now sitting on the table, and fell back into his chair. What had just happened? He reached across the table and gingerly picked up the golden band his boyfriend, or was it now ex-boyfriend, had just removed.

"Fuck," Troy said softly. It really did seem like the only appropriate word at the moment. He shook his head and thought to himself. He was right; today was not a good day.

-----------------------------------

It had been three days since he had broken it off with Troy. Three days of wallowing in self-pity and barely even leaving his room. Three days using Kaden's shoulder as something upon which to cry. Three days of pure, unadulterated suckiness.

He had been lying on his bed for the last hour and a half listening to some of the most depressing music in the world. And why? Because when one was depressed, it was always nice to know that someone else could feel as completely crappy as you could. It was nice knowing that you weren't the only person who could ever feel like your heart had been ripped out and shown to you before being carelessly tossed in the trashcan. It was just nice.

There was a soft knocking on the door, and if it stirred Ryan at all, one couldn't tell. He didn't move; he didn't blink; he didn't even move to turn up the volume on his stereo to drown out the excess noise.

The knocking came again, and when Ryan still didn't answer, it continued. Whoever it was knew he was in there. Finally, he lifted his head and yelled, "Unless it's Kaden or someone bearing chocolates, go away!"

He lay his head back down as the door slowly opened. He watched as Meg stuck her head in and smiled sadly when she spotted Ryan on the bed. She came into the room and softly closed the door behind her. Walking over to Ryan's prone form, she took the chair from his desk and sat down next to his bed.

"I don't have chocolates, and I'm not Kaden, but I figured my stunning personality could help, even just a little bit," she said.

"Thanks," Ryan said. "I didn't want any chocolates anyway. The last thing I need right now is to get fat."

"Oh, Ry," Meg sighed as she ruffled his hair. "You're never going to be fat. And even if you did gain a little weight right now, you're allowed."

Ryan smiled sadly up at his friend, then moved to bring himself up from his lying position to sit so he could properly carry on a conversation with his friend. He knew that she had been by a few times already, but he used Kaden as a shield to keep everyone who stopped by out. Now that Kaden wasn't there, he had no choice. But it was nice to see his friend. He'd missed her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

"Not really," Ryan replied. "It's just nice knowing you're here."

"Well," Meg started. "If you ever want to talk more about it, I'm here. And if you really need it, I can bring Leslie. She's great at plotting revenge."

That brought a smile to Ryan's lips. "I know, and when I get to that point she'll be the first person I call, but right now, I just feel like sitting around, doing nothing and feeling really sorry for myself."

"There's nothing like a good pity party when you're down is there?" Meg said, laughing a little. "But if it does make you feel any better, I know that Troy is feeling just as miserable."

"I don't really want to talk about Troy right now," Ryan said, tears welling up in his eyes. "I really, really don't want to talk about him."

"I know," Meg said. "But, my gosh, Ryan, he's walking around the house like someone's repeatedly kicked his puppy. He doesn't talk, he doesn't laugh, he just goes through the motions of actually being around other people. And he won't say anything … to anyone."

"Look," Ryan said, with just a little more force than he needed, which startled Meg into silence. "I get that he's hurting; I'm hurting, too. But I just don't want to talk about it right now. Maybe later, but not now."

"Okay, okay," Meg said, holding her hands up in surrender. "I get it, but I just have one more question."

Ryan sighed and sunk back down onto his bed so that only his head was propped up. "Fine," he said. "Ask away."

"Okay," Meg started. "Now, don't get mad at me for asking this, but don't you think the two of you should just talk about make up? From what I can tell you're both miserable without each other and I know that whatever is going on between you two can be fixed if you just talk about it."

Ryan then straightened up and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, I'm not going to be the person to start anything," he said stubbornly. "If he wants to say something he's going to have to come and find me."

"Don't you think that's being a bit stubborn?" Meg asked, trying to help her friend without making him mad, causing him to shut her out.

"I don't care if I'm being stubborn or not," Ryan said. "I don't know why this all came to a head; I don't know why I didn't just have a yelling match with Troy instead of calling it quits; I don't know anything right now."

He was now really trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall, but when he took in a big breath, his resolve seemed to crumble. The tears started to fall and he let out a shaky, shuddering breath.

"Nothing makes sense to me anymore," he started. "I thought I was going to be with Troy forever and now I'm not. My roommate is dating a guy who doesn't even know if he is able to 'like' guys in public yet and they are having a better go of things than I did with my established and out boyfriend."

Meg moved from the chair to sit next to Ryan on the bed and let him lean his head against her chest while he let out everything. "I can't be the one to make the first move," he sobbed out. "I just can't."

Then he turned his big puppy dog eyes onto Meg and said the words that broke her heart. "I love him. I love him so much," he said. "I just don't know if he loves me as much as I love him."

"I get it, hon; I do," Meg said as she smoothed his hair.

This was not a situation that was going to just fix itself in a day and everything was going to go back to normal. No, as much as Meg disliked seeing her friends hurting, she was just going to have to step back and let Ryan and Troy work through their problems. She just hoped that everything would turn out okay.

She sat there for who knows how long and let Ryan cry himself into a fitful sleep. That's how Kaden found the two when he came back a while later. He gave Meg a sympathetic look and sat down on the floor next to her.

If anyone else had come in at that moment it would have looked as though the two friends were sitting a silent vigil for their hurting friend. Maybe they were.

----------------------------------------------

Jeff had convinced Kaden to come with him as he ran some errands. It just so happened that the last of these errands was to run to the Chi Delta house to pick up a few things. Kaden was less than thrilled.

"Tell me again why I agreed to come with you," Kaden said as he followed his boyfriend toward his fraternity house. The two were walking with a good distance between them and Jeff was making sure that not even their hands would be able to brush.

Jeff took out his key, unlocked the door and held it open for Kaden to walk in. The blond walked through the door, but didn't go too far into the entryway until Jeff followed him in.

"Why are we here anyway?" Kaden asked, taking a moment to look around the house that he had heard so much about but had never been to before.

"I just have to grab a few things for a project we're working on," Jeff said. "I told them I'd work on this one part over the weekend and finish it in time for chapter on Monday."

"Oh," Kaden said, still not understanding what the hell they were doing. "Top secret fraternity stuff. I get it."

Jeff just laughed and went to put his arm around Kaden's waist before he realized where they were and stopped himself just short of his boyfriend's body. It was a good thing, too, because just then someone walked into the living room from the kitchen and saw the two of them standing near the front door.

"Hey, Little Strong," the guy said, indicating Jeff. "What are you here for?"

"Oh, I was just coming to pick some stuff up for that project," Jeff replied, moving a few steps away from Kaden, who noticed exactly what was going on. "I need to start working on it soon."

"Oh yeah," the guy nodded his understanding. He then looked over at Kaden and gave him the once over. "Who's your friend? A recruit?"

"Oh, him?" Jeff asked, glancing over at Kaden. "No, he's not a recruit. He's a friend. Just a friend."

Kaden realized that Jeff wasn't ready to publicly declare his love or anything, especially at his fraternity house, but hearing those words cut deeper than he cared to admit. It was one thing to hear it once, but then to hear it reiterated — 'just a friend' — that wasn't something Kaden was too keen on experiencing again.

He followed Jeff around the house, watching how he interacted with the other guys there and noticing how interacted with him, or, didn't interact with him when there were other people present.

Eventually, they all ended up in a room where several of the members were playing some kind of video game. Jeff was over talking with a few of them, while Kaden just stood in the doorway waiting for him to finish his business so they could leave.

After a few minutes of watching the guys in the room make crude jokes and chug more Mountain Dew than anyone should ever be allowed, Jeff made his way back over to Kaden.

"I'm going to stick around for a little bit and hang out," he said. "Do you want to stay? You know you're more than welcome to."

Stay? Longer than he had to? That really wasn't on Kaden's list of things to do, especially when Jeff was treating him as if he had the plague. He loved spending time with his boyfriend, but he didn't want to have to pretend that they were only 'just friends.'

"Nah," Kaden said. "I think I'll just head back to my room and see how Ryan's doing."

"Oh, okay," Jeff said, looking down at Kaden's hand as if he wanted to grab it, but ultimately decided against doing anything of the sort. "Well, I'll, uh, I'll just call you later, okay?"

"Sure," Kaden said as he walked out of the room and headed down the stairs and out of the house.

It was cold outside when Kaden stepped out of the fraternity house. He wrapped his arms tightly around his body. Jeff had driven them around town and ended up at the house, but now that he was on his own, Kaden had to walk, which wasn't bad in and of itself, but he'd rather be with his boyfriend who was now hanging out with some category of sub-humans that all gathered together to call themselves a fraternity.

As he continued walking, he kept thinking. He didn't like how he had to interact with Jeff at the fraternity house, but he understood why he did it. He just wondered how long it would be before Jeff would realize that the approval of those Neanderthals wasn't something he required, nor should he desire it. Would he ever?

**A/N: And here is the drama. I hope I did it justice and didn't just throw it all in there. I didn't plan on having this chapter up so early, but once I started writing it, I just couldn't stop. Hopefully that comes across and you all enjoy this. I know it's not the most uplifting chapter, but I think it's one of the most powerful. I was watching an episode of Grey's Anatomy when I wrote the scene between Meg and Ryan and the song that kept playing in my mind was "Keep Breathing" from the season three soundtrack. Can you tell? Enjoy! Please read and review!**

**fieryflame:** I hope you and your significant other are able to work things out! And I think what's going on with Troy and Ryan is kind of like the exact opposite … a lack of communication instead of too much of it. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**bobrabbit100:** Sorry … still no explanation for the secret getaways, but I promise, it's coming. And, Ryan finally cracked. And even though everything was great for Jeff and Kaden in the last chapter, and even at the beginning of this one, I wouldn't count on everything staying that way for too long.

**Phoenix II:** Jeff knows he's gay. He's just not comfortable enough with himself to let other people know yet. He also cares too much about what other people think. This will be explored in depth later … it'll be fun. Promise.

**uberpsi:** Haha … Meg and Greg. I love it! There's always that one couple you know that have the rhyming names, right? Well, this is mine. I'm glad you're enjoying this so much.

**JustAnAmateur:** Woo! A near 5 out of 5! I'm ecstatic! I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I also hope you enjoy this chapter. There's not really any kind of fluff and it can be kind of depressing, but still … I hope you enjoy.


	16. Chapter 16

Ryan and Kaden were sprawled across Kaden's bed, an empty box of Wheat Thins between them. They had been laying there, talking for the past two hours about all of their troubles, boy-related or otherwise. Both were also currently stuffed full of whole-wheat crackers.

"I'm bored," Kaden said.

"Yeah, and we're out of food, too," Ryan responded, shaking the empty yellow cracker box and tossing it over to his friend.

"I wonder what Jeff is doing," Kaden pondered, rolling over onto his stomach and stopping when his body came into contact with Ryan's. "Do you think he's doing anything fun?"

"I thought you were upset with him," Ryan said, not moving to look at the other blond. "Why are you asking about him?"

"Just because I'm mad at him doesn't mean that I just stop thinking about him," Kaden said matter-of-factly.

"I know," Ryan grumbled, thinking about his current predicament. "That's the problem." Ryan then shifted onto his stomach and lay right next to his roommate, shoulder to shoulder, and sighed. "So, what are we going to do? I don't want to lay around here all night and think about the boys who are screwing up our lives right now."

"I don't know," Kaden said, leaning over toward Ryan, placing his head on his friend's shoulder. "Usually I'd say we should watch a movie and pig out, but," he said, picking up the empty box of crackers and shaking it, "we've already done that."

"So, what do regular, single, and might I add attractive, young college students do on a Friday evening?" Ryan asked, yet again.

"Hey," Kaden protested. "I may be upset with Jeff and his lame friends, but I don't think I qualify as single just yet."

"Whatever," Ryan said, waving his hands at his roommate. "For all intents and purposes, tonight you can pretend to be single while you hang out with your aloof roommate."

"You're the actor, not me," Kaden replied, a smile spreading on his face. "But I guess I could try to pull off something like that."

"Who said you could have a sense of humor?" Ryan asked as he shifted his position yet again to sit up on the bed, still trying to think of something to do.

"You know," Kaden said, sitting up as well, "we could always just go down to the main lobby and see if one of the RAs is putting on a program or something like that."

Ryan pulled a face at his friend's suggestion. "You know I hate to make generalizations like this," he said as he shook his head, "but the people who live in our building are not what you would call socially adept."

"Just because some of them know more about Halo and computers than they do the opposite — or same — sex doesn't mean they can't be fun people to get to know or hang out with," Kaden said.

"Okay, so you're right," Ryan admitted. "But think about it from my point of view. I want to be distracted and if I surround myself with people who don't interest me, I'll only focus harder on things I want to forget."

"Okay, okay," Kaden said, resigning himself to the fact that he wasn't going to spend a nice quiet evening at home wallowing in self-pity. "We could always go to Cobblestone Place and get a few drinks. It's karaoke night there, too."

Ryan's face brightened at the suggestion. Alcohol would make him forget. And he didn't even care if that made him sound like an alcoholic. He'd only been drunk a handful of times in his life, and only once or twice since he'd come to college. This was going to be a great opportunity for him to unwind, have a fun time, and forget everything that was bothering him. Not to mention the fact that it would allow him to dress up. Making himself look good always did something to improve Ryan's spirits.

"That is the best idea you've had all evening," Ryan said as he moved over to his wardrobe to pick out something to wear.

"Hey," Kaden said, slightly offended. "I'm the one who brought the Wheat Thins tonight; don't I get some kind of credit for that?"

"The ranch kind leaves a funny aftertaste," Ryan said while he threw a few articles of clothing out onto his bed. "Stick with the tomato basil kind."

Kaden just heaved a sigh and moved over across his bed to reach into his nightstand, hoping he wouldn't have to look too long to find something to wear. He didn't understand how Ryan got so much satisfaction from clothes, but he didn't dare ask anything about it.

Eventually, the two young men were finished getting ready. Kaden stood beside Ryan at the mirror by the sink they shared and took a look at both he and his roommate. "You know," he said, "we do look pretty good. I'd date us."

"Of course you would," Ryan said, smiling at his reflection. "Now, let's get out there and show the world what they've been missing.

"Right," Kaden said, nodding his head in agreement. "To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems."

"You would say that," Ryan said, giving his roommate a mock glare. The two friends then linked arms and strode out of the room, laughing and planning to have a good time.

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Kaden stood at the bar, waiting for his and Ryan's order to be filled. They had been at the establishment for a little over two hours now, and it was safe to say that they were pretty much drunk. Obliterated might have been another term used to describe their state of inebriation. Kaden was swaying to the beat of the song blasting over the loudspeakers when the bartender brought his and Ryan's drinks. The blond gave the man one his megawatt smiles and turned to watch as his roommate finished his latest karaoke song.

Ryan was really working the crowd. He'd been up on stage a few times already, but this last time, he had everything going for him. At least, he thought he did. It was probably the alcohol. But that didn't matter. He was having a great time. As soon as the music stopped, Ryan stumbled off the stage and made it over to where Kaden was waiting with their drinks in hand.

"So, how'd I do?" Ryan asked, grabbing his drink from his friend. "I think they all liked this one, don't you?"

"You can never go wrong with Blondie, Ry," Kaden said after taking a rather large gulp of what was probably an incredibly alcoholic beverage. "Never."

"Your friend is right; you can never go wrong with Blondie," a voice right next to them said.

Both Ryan and Kaden turned in unison to see who was talking to them. Kaden looked at the tall, dark haired guy standing next to them with a confused look. It took Ryan a few seconds, but even in his drunken stupor he was able to remember who was talking to them. "Oh my gosh!" he exclaimed. "Jordan, right? I remember you. You were in my orientation group and we live in the same building!"

Jordan blushed, but nodded his head. "You're right on all accounts, Ryan."

"Oh, look," Ryan said, leaning in toward Kaden. "He remembers who I am. Isn't he sweet?"

"Oh yeah," Kaden replied, nodding his head. "He's tall, too. And hot."

"Hey," Ryan protested. "You can't say that. You're seeing someone. I can say something like that because I'm not."

"Uh, you guys?" Jordan said. "I'm standing right here."

"Oh," Kaden said, surprised by Jordan's logic. Of course, that's what happens when one gets drunk. He then turned to Ryan. "You know it's not nice to talk about people, especially when they can hear you. I should know, sometimes when I'm with Jeff and we go over to his house they start talking and I—"

"You need a drink," Ryan said as he looked at their new friend, effectively cutting off Kaden. "Why don't you have a drink?"

"Well," Jordan started, thinking that maybe the alcohol was making these two act a little weirder than it normally would have. "I'm not 21, so they won't serve me." Then he noticed the fact that both Ryan and his friend were both holding drinks … and they were drunk. All of a sudden he felt really stupid. "How did you two get served here? I know you're not 21, Ryan."

"They've always served us," Ryan said matter-of-factly. "Here, I'll get you something." He then turned around to place another order with the bartender who probably had a crush on both he and Kaden.

Several moments later, Ryan turned around and handed a drink to his new friend. "Here," he said. "Just for you."

Jordan took a sip of the drink and pulled back rather quickly. Whatever it was he was drinking was pretty damn strong. No wonder the two of them were so gone.

"So," Jordan started, "who's your friend, Ryan?" he asked, indicating Kaden, who was now busy watching the person on stage singing — albeit very poorly — some Journey song.

"Oh, this is Kaden," Ryan said, patting the blond on his shoulder. "He's my roommate. We're basically BFF."

"Oh," Jordan said, chuckling at the fact that Ryan had actually said that. "What brings you guys here tonight?"

"Well," Ryan began. "I just broke up with my boyfriend, and we decided that we needed to take our minds off things. What better way to do that than with alcohol?"

Jordan was going to ask another question, but just then the DJ called Ryan's name, apparently he was dominating the karaoke stage that evening. Ryan begged off and assumed his position on the stage to start his performance.

With that, Jordan turned to Kaden who was watching Ryan and sipping his drink. "So, how come I haven't seen you around the building?"

"Oh me?" Kaden asked, surprised that this gorgeous specimen of man was paying any attention to him when he already knew Ryan, and knew that Ryan was single. "I'm just, uh, busy … yeah, really busy. And I spend a, uh, lot of time at my boyfriend's place. Yeah, lots of time there, too."

"Oh," Jordan said, "A boyfriend, huh? Must be a really lucky guy."

Kaden's cheeks turned red and he bowed his head at Jordan's obvious compliment. "I, uh, actually, I'm probably the lucky one," Kaden said, smiling up at Jordan.

"I seriously doubt that," Jordan replied, flashing a grin at his new friend. Kaden, blushed more deeply and finished off the rest of his drink in a way to lessen the tension that was being caused by Jordan and the conversation they were having.

Kaden turned around and ordered another drink, which was quickly given to him and downed it before Ryan had a chance to come back from his latest performance. "Whoa," Jordan said, noticing how fast Kaden was consuming the alcohol. "Don't you think you should slow it down a bit?"

Before Kaden had the chance to respond, however, Ryan was back and grabbing his drink from the counter. "Man, I almost forgot how much I love being on stage," he said. Then he turned to face his roommate and new friend. "What did you guys talk about while I was gone?"

"Well," Jordan started, "we just talked about—"

"Oh no," Ryan said, cutting off the brunette, while pointing to his half empty glass. "You need a refill."

"No!" Jordan said, a little too loudly, which startled Ryan who flinched at the sudden exclamation and jerked his arm, causing his drink to spill all over the front of Jordan's shirt.

"Oh my gosh," Ryan said, using his hand to try and wipe down Jordan's sopping shirt. "Here, let me help you dry this off."

"It's okay," Jordan said, grabbing his hands, stopping Ryan from rubbing the drink further into the fabric of his shirt. "Just … it's okay."

Just then, they heard a soft thump next to them. They both turned and saw that Kaden had fallen from his barstool and was now lying on the floor. "Oh, that's just gross, Kaden," Ryan said, looking at his roommate. "Do you even know how many people have been standing there tonight?"

"I think he's passed out," Jordan said, leaning down to the floor, noticing that Kaden's eyes were closed and he wasn't moving. "We should get him out of here."

"I'll call Meg," Ryan said, pulling out his cell phone. "She knows what to do. She's so smart. Have you ever met Meg? She's really nice."

Jordan just shook his head. This was going to be a long, long night. There was no way these two would be able to handle themselves. He was just going to have to wait for this Meg to show up and pray to God that she actually knew something about dealing with people who were probably not the most cooperative when they drank their body weight in alcohol. Why did the good looking ones always have to have some kind of hang up?

-----------------------------------------

Meg was walking through the hallway at Sigma Phi Gamma in her pajamas. Her hair was a mess and she was not in a good mood. She hadn't gotten to sleep until around 4 in the morning. After receiving a somewhat indecipherable phone call from Ryan she headed over to Cobblestone Place to find a very drunk Ryan sitting next to a very passed out Kaden who was being propped up by a very good looking stranger.

She later found out this stranger's name and how he had come to be a part of her night's adventures. Apparently he lived in the same building as Ryan and Kaden and was the only semi-sober one of the group. Thank God for small miracles.

Eventually, she had corralled the boys into her car and was driving off to their residence hall. She got there just in time, too. When she pulled up in front of their destination, Ryan was just able to get the door open before he stuck his head out the side and threw up all over the sidewalk.

'He was lucky he didn't get anything in my car,' she thought, as she made her way into the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee. 'He's a good kid, but I'd have had him strung up by his unmentionables.'

Feeling somewhat better, now that she had her morning cup of caffeine, she began making her way back up to her boyfriend's room. If she was lucky, she could probably get a few more hours of napping in before she had to be out and about.

She walked into the living room and was almost through to the stairway when she noticed someone sitting on the couch. She turned to see who it was and noticed it was Troy. He looked bad. Like he hadn't showered in a few days and, judging by his state of dress, had been left to determine his own attire. 'Wow,' Meg thought to herself. 'He really does depend on Ryan for certain things.'

She walked over to the brunette who had apparently not noticed her yet and sat down across from him. "How's it going, Troy?" she asked, setting her cup of coffee down on the end table.

Only after she had spoken to him did Troy actually acknowledge her presence. He turned and gave her a sad smile. He was holding something in his hand, something small. From what Meg could tell, it looked like a ring. Finally, Troy heaved a sigh and spoke, "Things could be going better."

"Oh, Troy," Meg said, reaching her hand out to rest on Troy's leg, hoping to give him some kind of comfort. "I know this is difficult right now, but you'll get through it. I promise."

"You promise?" Troy scoffed. How could she promise such a thing.

"Look," Meg started. "Ryan's taking this just as badly as you are. I know."

"What are you talking about?" Troy asked. He liked Meg, but how would she even begin to understand just what he's going through and that Ryan would be going through it just like him. "How would you even know."

"Ryan is my friend, too," she replied. "I talk to him. He talks to me. Not to mention the fact that I was out until the wee hours of the morning making sure he didn't make a total fool of himself while he was uptown."

"Ryan was uptown?" Troy asked. This was the first news of Ryan's whereabouts he had gotten since they had their fight in the coffee shop. "What was he doing? Who was he with? Was he okay? You said something about making a fool of himself. Is he alright?"

Meg smiled at Troy's concern. "He's fine," she said. "He just had a little, okay, a lot too much to drink last night. I had to go pick him and Kaden and some other guy up at the bar after he called."

"Some other guy?" Troy asked. Why were they with some new guy? Had Ryan really been able to move on that quickly? "What other guy? Who is he?"

"It's okay," Meg said, seeing where Troy was going with this line of questioning. "I guess he lives in the same building as they do. They were just out together. I don't even know if they went there together. I think they just ran into each other. But don't worry, Ryan was not interested and I don't think the other guy was either. From what I could tell, he has his sights set on Kaden."

"Oh," Troy said, relaxing slightly, but still not liking the fact that Ryan was out on the town with another guy all that much.

"Trust me," Meg said. "Ryan is not interested in anyone else. He loves you. He loves you more than he can put into words."

"Well, if he loves me so much why did he break up with me?" Troy asked, leaning back on the couch and crossing his arms over his chest. "If he loves me so much, why would he hurt me like that?"

Meg laughed ruefully to herself. "He broke up with you because he doesn't think you love him as much as he loves you," she said. "He broke up with you because you didn't seem to realize that all he wanted was to be with you. He didn't want anything special; he didn't want those romantic getaways or little gifts. He just wanted you and for you to want him just as much."

"But I do," Troy said. "How could he think that I didn't? He knows I would do anything for him. I tell him all the time."

"Actions speak louder than words, hon," Meg said. "How many dates have you broken with him because something else has come up? How many times have you put him on the back burner because you needed to take care of something else?"

Troy at least had the decency to blush at the admonition. "I guess I just wasn't thinking. I didn't—"

"That's right," Meg cut him off. "You weren't thinking." She smiled at him and grabbed her cup of coffee, preparing to head back upstairs. "He loves you. He's just waiting for you to prove to him that the feelings are mutual."

And with that, she headed back upstairs, leaving Troy to think about what they had just talked. Hopefully, Troy would see that not everything was lost. He'd have to work for it, but Ryan would go back to him once he felt secure in the knowledge that Troy was his just as much as he was Troy's.

---------------------------------------

Kaden didn't know what he was doing over here. He was standing in front of the door that would take him into Jeff and Troy's room and he felt like he was entering forbidden territory … maybe he was just over-thinking this. Maybe Troy wouldn't even be there and he could just talk with Jeff for a bit before heading back home.

Apparently, though, luck was not on his side. When he entered the room, he first saw Jeff, then looked to the other side of the room and found Troy sitting on his bed. Kaden stiffened slightly, not really wanting to have to deal with both his boyfriend and his roommate's ex at the same time, but still continued over to Jeff who had now stood up from his seat at his desk.

"Hey," Jeff said, reaching out to give the blond a hug.

"Hey," Kaden said, hugging his boyfriend back, smiling at the warm contact. He was still slightly on guard, noticing that Troy had not once taken his eyes off him since he entered the room.

"Do you want to go for a walk or something?" Jeff asked, not really wanting to be all mushy and boyfriend-like in front of his roommate.

"No, I can't," Kaden said. "I can only be here for a little bit, then I have to get back and work on some stuff and see how Ry—" then he cut himself off before he could finish the sentence, but he was sure that both Jeff and Troy knew what he was going to say.

"Well, I guess I could just …" Jeff trailed off, becoming flustered. "I just wanted to say that I was sorry for the other night. I know you were uncomfortable and I didn't do anything to help with that and I even suggested you stay there longer and I know that was stupid now and I just want to say I'm sorry."

Kaden smiled and leaned in to kiss his boyfriend. "You didn't have to say all that," he said after pulling his lips away from Jeff's. "I would have just been happy with an 'I'm sorry.'"

Jeff smiled back and then leaned forward to recapture his boyfriend's lips. The two were just standing there, reveling in the fact that everything was okay between them, when they heard a discreet cough coming from the other side of the room.

When they broke apart, both turned to see Troy still sitting on his bed. "Hey guys," he said, waving at the two. "Still here."

Kaden then realized that he hadn't been very nice to Troy. Just because he and Ryan had broken up didn't mean that he couldn't still be Troy's friend, or at least be friendly when they were around one another. "Hey, Troy," he said. "Sorry about that. I guess we just got a little carried away."

"Yeah," Troy sighed. "I know how that can be."

"Oh, Troy," Kaden said. He should have known that being like that in front of Troy would make him uncomfortable given what he was going through right now.

"No," Troy said before Kaden could say anything else. "Don't. I don't need you to censor yourself in front of me and I definitely don't need you analyzing my reactions to things."

Kaden then turned back to his boyfriend, still feeling somewhat awkward about everything that was happening. He smiled at his boyfriend and said a few more whispered words before making to head out of the room. He was stopped, though, by Troy's voice.

"How's he doing?" Troy asked.

Kaden didn't need any further explanation for what Troy was looking for; the request for information was obvious. He then turned to face Troy, a sad smile on his face. "He's hurting," Kaden said. "But he still loves you."

"What about what happened at the bar the other night?" Troy asked, grasping for any information about Ryan that he could possibly get his hands on.

Kaden blushed, he hadn't actually been able to talk to Jeff about the bar or anything like that yet, but he was even more uncomfortable because he didn't know what he should tell Troy. Would Ryan be mad if he talked about what they did? Would what he say make Troy mad? He didn't really want to cause any problems between the two right now. Well, any more problems.

"I don't know, Troy," he said. "If Ryan wants you to know, he'll be the one to tell you." At seeing Troy about to protest, Kaden started up gain. "I know. It sucks. But I know that you two will work things out. Everything will be okay."

And with that, he gave Jeff a kiss goodbye and walked out of the room. After closing the door, he leaned up against the wall of the hallway. He knew the two of them would work things out, but he sure as hell hoped that it would be sooner rather than later. He didn't know how much more of this he could take.

He then started walking back to his room, thinking that even though he didn't necessarily like the after effects of the alcohol or approve of using it as a stress reliever, he could sure use some right now to take his mind off things.

**A/N: Wow. Finished with chapter 16. We're two-thirds of the way through things are getting pretty interesting now, if I do say so myself. Do you all remember Jordan from chapter three? No? He's there. I just wanted to say thanks again to everyone who continues to read and review. They all mean a lot to me. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Writing a drunk Ryan and Kaden was a lot of fun.**

**bobrabbit100:** I'm glad I could help you out with your PSATs. I'm glad I'm so far removed from all the standardized testing. I don't think I could handle that anymore. Twenty-page ethics papers, I can handle. Four hours of filling in bubbles; shoot me now. I also understand how you feel about relating to where Jeff is in his development. I'm available if you ever want to talk about it.

**fieryflame:** Sorry about how things are going in your relationship. We all know Troy and Ryan are going to work things out, though … so hopefully your life continues to mirror this, right? I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much.

**LucasLover:** Do you know how good it makes a writer feel when someone says they're able to relate to the characters in their stories. You made my day. I also don't plan on discontinuing this story. Everything is planned out and I hope to have this finished by the end of the semester/winter break.

**uberpsi:** That was a tough scene to write. I remember doing something similar to that with one of my good friends and it really brought up a lot of memories. I'm glad you enjoyed it, though.

**JustAnAmateur:** I love Grey's Anatomy! Not for the drama … that's just eh. But the humor in it is just so good. It's always understated and just amazing. I love Dr. Bailey and Dr. Torres (O'Malley). But yeah. I'm flattered that the chapter before last was an actual five. Woo!

**Phoenix II:** In regards to the Greeks and the partying vs. gaming thing, every chapter has it's niche and every chapter drinks. Regardless of what they say, although from what I can tell, the better chapters are the one's who are honest about what they do. I'm glad Jeff is pissing you off, though … that just means I'm writing him the way I want to be. I hope you enjoy this update.

**ellbtvsvm:** There was something I heard once. Duct tape is like the force: there's a dark side, and a light side, and it holds the universe together. I like it.

**astrozombie50:** I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. Even though it was probably one of the saddest, it was probably the most fun to write.


	17. Chapter 17

It was one of those almost-spring-but-not-quite-yet days. It was warmer than it had been, but in typical Pacific Northwest fashion, it had been raining off and on all day. Kaden was carrying an umbrella with him as he walked through campus, just in case it started raining again.

He walked through the busiest parts of campus, near the student union building, watching as other students hurried off to their next class or stopped to talk with friends, having an impromptu chat in between the sporadic weather. They all appeared to be inordinately carefree to Kaden. Apparently they didn't have any tests or papers to worry about, nor did they have roommates who were still dealing with the recent break ups from their boyfriends. Kaden was jealous.

Not to say that he didn't absolutely love Ryan to death, but he could hardly help his roommate deal with his problems when he had his own daunting relationship obstacles with which he had no idea how to deal.

It had been over three weeks since Troy and Ryan had split and it didn't seem like anything was getting better. Ryan still moped; Troy still moped. Ryan refused to talk about Troy and wouldn't even consider speaking with him until his ex made the first move. Troy, apparently, still lacked the courage to confront Ryan. And everyone was suffering because of it.

That, of course, didn't mean Troy hadn't pumped Kaden for information every time he came over to visit Jeff, or that Ryan didn't do the same thing every time he returned back to their room. It was all beginning to take its toll on him and he found that the most relaxing part of his day was when he found himself walking in the rain. He didn't have to worry about roommates, boyfriends, fraternities, tests, classes or anything. He just watched as the rain fell. It was all very cathartic.

He was so wrapped up in his musings about life and his lack of one that he didn't even notice Troy's presence until the brunette was standing directly in front of him. Kaden let out a sigh upon the realization that he would no longer be able to enjoy his world away from everything.

"Hi, Troy," he said, his voice betraying all of the emotions running through him at the moment, none of them good.

"Don't try and sound too happy to see me," Troy said, offering weak smile that ultimately fell flat when he noticed that Kaden wasn't even attempting to return it.

"It's not that I'm not glad to see you," Kaden said. "It's just that I'm not, you know?" At Troy's confused look, he continued. "Things are just really weird right now, and I don't ever get any time to not play the middle man between you and Ryan anymore and now you're here, so I have to assume it's because of Ryan."

Troy blushed at the last part, which only led Kaden to assume he was correct in his assumption. "Okay," Kaden said. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Do you want to go sit down?" Troy asked, gesturing to one of the benches in front of the massive student union building. Kaden nodded and the two of them headed over to the wet wooden structure.

"Before you start," Kaden began as he sat down, "you know I'm not going to tell you anything. We've been over it enough and you know Ryan doesn't want me telling you anything."

"I know, I know," Troy said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "I'm not trying to get any information from you. All I want is your help."

"My help?" Kaden asked. He had become used to Troy's persistent questioning over the weeks, but his asking for help was enough to throw him completely for a loop.

"Yeah," Troy said. "I want to get Ryan alone so I can talk to him about everything that's happened, but I need your help to do that." He realized that without Kaden's help, he would never be able to get Ryan to sit down and listen to him. "Please?"

"What exactly do you need me to do?" Kaden asked. He understood why Troy was asking, but he didn't really get what the brunette wanted of him. "Do I have to trick him or something? Because, you know I don't lie very well. Like, at all."

Troy laughed at that. He knew Kaden wasn't the best at deception, but he didn't need anything that drastic from his ex-hopefully-soon-to-be-again boyfriend. "No, nothing like that," he said. "I just need you to let me know when he leaves your room for dinner tonight. I have everything else planned."

"So all I need to do is make a phone call?" Kaden asked, not really believing that this was all he had to do in order to solve all his problems.

"At the right time," Troy said, hoping Kaden's curiosity meant he was buying into the plan. "Hopefully I'll be able to take care of everything else and then we can all go back to normal. Does that sound good?"

"Like music to my ears," Kaden said, smiling. "I'm glad you finally decided to get up off your ass and do something about it. I can't wait for everything to go back to normal."

"Well," Troy said, trying not to get too ahead of himself. "Hopefully everything will go back to the way it was. If I can just get Ryan to listen to me."

"Look, Troy," Kaden said, putting his hand on his friend's knee. "He's just been waiting for an excuse to listen to you. Just tell him you love him and you'll never be that stupid ever again and everything will be just perfect."

"I do love him," Troy said quietly. "And I'm going to make sure he never forgets that."

"Good," Kaden said, leaning over to give Troy a quick hug, patting him on the back. "Now, get up," he said, motioning for Troy to get up from the bench, "and take care of everything and I'll call you when he leaves for dinner."

"Thank you so much," Troy said, leaning over to return the hug. He was just so happy to hopefully be getting his Ryan back. "I'll talk to you later."

Kaden laughed and waved as Troy jogged off, presumably to get ready for his heart-to-heart. He was smiling as he went away, and, finally, Kaden had something to smile about, too. This was going to be a great day; he just knew it.

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Ryan sighed and closed his eyes as the hot liquid passed over his lips and into his mouth. If there was one thing people in the Northwest knew how to do better than anyone else, it was coffee. Even the coffee shop in the student union could brew a mean cup, which was good, because that's where he found himself at the moment, nursing a nonfat latte. He set his cup back down on the table and opened his eyes to see both Meg and Leslie staring back at him.

"Maybe he doesn't need a boyfriend," Leslie said in a pretend whisper as she leaned over to Meg. "If I could get something without a penis to give me that kind of an expression I'd drop boys like a bad habit."

Ryan blushed as Meg slapped Leslie on the arm. "What?" Leslie asked, rubbing her shoulder. "All of the pleasure, none of the hassle? Where is the downside?"

"You're not helping matters," Meg said in a harsh whisper, then looked back over to Ryan and smiled. "We're trying to be supportive."

"I'm not trying to help," Leslie said, making Meg send a murderous look her way. "I'm trying to get him something that will make his eyes roll to the back of his head in pure, unadulterated bliss."

The two friends looked as though they would have continued with their argument well into the day, so Ryan was forced to speak up. "Look," he said, quieting the two arguing women. "I'm not going to break. You don't have to censor yourself around me because you think I'm going to get all sad or freak out or something." Meg at least had the courtesy to blush at what Ryan was implying.

"And I'm not trying to find just a quick fling," Ryan said, turning his attention to Leslie. "I just — I'm moving on. Slowly, but surely."

"Okay," Leslie said, Meg nodding in agreement. "But if you ever need a little bedtime pick-me-up, you just come talk to me about it. I know this great guy, Mike, he's tall, dreamy and, oh my God, you could wash clothes on his abs."

"That's a lot better than your last boyfriend," Meg said, laughing.

"Yeah," Leslie agreed. "You couldn't wash anything on his stomach. He sure was pretty good at resting a beer on it, though."

Ryan and Meg burst out laughing. "I can't picture you dating anyone like that," Ryan said. "I mean, you know all these great looking guys, and, well, you have taste. How is it you always end up dating the schlubs?"

"What can I say?" Leslie asked. "I'm a sucker for someone I know I look better than."

"What she forgets to mention," Meg said, butting in, "is that her last boyfriend was a bartender and we didn't have to pay for a single drink for over six months. For Leslie, dating is a form of economic balance."

"We all have our shtick," Leslie said, taking a drink of her coffee.

"Yes," Ryan said. "Well, right now, my shtick is getting through the term and then going home for spring break. I only have five more weeks and three finals left."

"You could do that," Meg said, "or you could join us in Las Vegas." She had been trying to talk Ryan into going on the trip with them for over a week now. She thought that by going back home, Ryan was only keeping himself from making new friends and memories. He'd never feel at home at school unless he tried to branch out.

If she were really honest with herself, she had to admit that the only reason they were friends was because she made the effort at the beginning. She didn't know if Ryan would last at school if he didn't have someone always pushing him to do something outside his comfort zone, not because he was incapable of it, but because he just hadn't yet found his place.

"Come on, Ry," Leslie said, excitement apparent in her voice. "Think about it: three-foot tall margaritas. Have you ever even thought about something so amazing?"

"You really are a lush," Ryan said, laughing at her enthusiasm for an alcoholic beverage. "But I love you anyway. And I just really need to go home for a little bit. To help me clear my head."

"If you say so," Leslie grudgingly agreed. "But when I come back a millionaire with a few of those Chippendale's dancers hanging all over me, we'll just see who had the better time, yeah?"

"I guess then you'll have the last laugh," Ryan said, chuckling softly. She really did let her imagination run away with her sometimes.

The three friends continued to talk for quite a while, talking about things ranging from classes to what exactly it was Leslie had in store for the student body president, whom she had been stalking recently. As it usually happened, they sat at the table in the coffee shop long after their drinks had been finished.

"Isn't that Kaden out there?" Meg asked during a lull in their conversation. Ryan turned to look out the window to see his roommate walking past the student union. A smile graced his lips as he prepared to get up and yell out the window for his friend to join them.

That smile was wiped off his face when he saw Troy walk up to him. He frowned as he watched his boyfriend, er, ex-boyfriend, talk to his current roommate. He heard Leslie ask what was going on, but he just shrugged his shoulders. They knew as much as he did.

Ryan just continued to watch as the two moved from standing on the sidewalk to sitting on one of the benches facing the building. They looked like they were in some kind of intense conversation, about what Ryan had no idea.

He watched as Kaden put his hand on Troy's knee in what appeared to be a comforting gesture. His frown deepened as Troy blushed and looked down at his lap. What could possibly be going on between the two of them? What the hell did Kaden think he was doing fraternizing with the enemy? Kaden was his friend, not Troy's. Troy couldn't use him for emotional support.

Everything and everyone in the coffee shop seemed to disappear as Ryan continued to focus on what was happening outside of the building. Meg's and Leslie's attempts to draw his attention away from the situation fell on deaf ears as he just continued staring out the window. Then he saw the two of them embrace. He blinked rapidly and sat back in his seat, not really believing what he had just seen.

He leaned forward again. Maybe it had just been a mind trick. Sometimes, people would imagine the worst of a situation for some reason or another when nothing like that had actually happened. Then he saw it again.

No way had that been a mistake. Two hugs. He'd seen them. His ex-boyfriend and his roommate were sitting on a bench right outside where he'd been enjoying a bit of his free time with his friends and now they were touching and hugging.

Something inside Ryan snapped. He stood up quickly from the table, pushing his chair back. He stepped away from the table and began moving toward the door. He could vaguely hear Meg saying something, but he couldn't let his brain process it at the moment. He had to go. He had to find Kaden and find out what the hell he had just seen.

His mind was running away with him and all the horrible scenarios that could play out. His boyfriend and his roommate had been seeing each other behind his back. Now that they were broken up, Troy and Kaden were free to do whatever they wanted.

A little voice in the back of his brain told him that he was being ridiculous, but he didn't want to listen to it. He had wrapped his head around one emotion and he was going strong with it. No way was a rational thought going to tear him from his current mission to find out what that sneaky ex and backstabbing roommate of his were up to.

He realized only as the cold air hit his face that he had left the coffee shop, walked through the student union and was now making his way outside. He looked at the area where Troy and Kaden had just been, but neither of them were still there.

It seemed as though Ryan was in predator mode now. He knew one place where Kaden was sure to show up sooner or later, and classes be damned, Ryan was going to be there waiting for him. And with that, he began making his way back toward his dorm room.

-----------------------------------------

Kaden was drained from his physical activity course. Who knew badminton could require so much physical exertion. Kaden was far from out of shape, and yet here he was, ready to collapse on his bed until the next morning because his instructor had run him ragged. All he wanted to do was get to his room, take a shower and sit on his bed until he had to call Troy to put his plan into action.

He could sense that something was off as he approached his room. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but the feeling only intensified as he turned the doorknob and entered his dimly lit dorm room.

He slowly walked in, and looked around, jumping a bit when he saw Ryan sitting cross-legged on his bed, his pillow held tightly to his chest. The position itself wasn't scary so much as the fact that the only light in the room was on and pointed in his direction.

"Hey, Ryan," Kaden said awkwardly. "What are you doing over there in the dark? Don't you think you should turn on another light?" he asked as he made his way over to the light switch. He was stopped, however by Ryan's outburst.

"No!" Ryan exclaimed. "I don't want any other lights on."

"O-kay," Kaden said as he dropped his bag next to his bed and flopped his body down on the mattress. "You know this is all very police interrogator like, you know?"

"Yeah, well, whatever," Ryan replied. He still hadn't moved from his sitting position. Kaden was starting to feel really awkward, like he should be on his guard or something, like he had done something wrong.

"So," Ryan asked, startling Kaden from his thoughts. "How was your day? Anything interesting happen? See anyone?"

"No, just the usual," Kaden said. "My badminton instructor is trying to kill me, though. I'm pretty sure she has it out for me or something. I think she was trying to attack me with rogue birdies today."

"Yeah, yeah," Ryan said. "Very interesting. How about in between classes? Have any interesting conversations with any interesting people?"

Kaden furrowed his brow. It was obvious that Ryan was searching for something, but he didn't know what. It was all very creepy and he was beginning to think that Troy would just have to wing it with his plan for tonight. "Uh," Kaden said, hesitating to answer for fear that he might set Ryan off. "Not really. How about you?"

"Oh no," Ryan said. "I just had some coffee with Meg and Leslie today. But I saw something that really interested me while I was in the café."

"Oh yeah," Kaden asked. "What was it? Did Leslie try and talk one of the baristas into spiking her mocha? I could see her arguing—"

"No," Ryan said, cutting Kaden off. "It wasn't that. We did, however, see something really interesting out in the Quad, you know, on one of those benches."

"Oh?" Kaden asked, getting a little nervous about what Ryan was implying. He couldn't have seen anything, right? "What did you see?"

"Cut the crap, Kaden," Ryan said, finally moving from his position on his bed. He got up and threw the pillow down. This caused Kaden to shift on his own bed. This couldn't be good. "I saw you and Troy out in the quad today."

"Ryan," Kaden started, hoping to cut this discussion short before. "I don't know what you saw, but I can assure you it's not what you're thinking."

"What?" Ryan asked. "So that heart-warming gesture of you putting your hand on his knee and then hugging multiple times isn't what I think it is? Please tell me when a hug started to mean something else than a show of affection."

"Well, yeah we hugged," Kaden said. He didn't really understand why he was defending himself, but Ryan wasn't really in the most understanding of moods.

"So you admit it, then?" Ryan asked.

"Admit what?" Kaden asked. "That I hugged him? Yeah, but he hugged me first."

"So, how long has this been going on?" Ryan continued. "How long have you been seeing each other behind my back?"

"What?" Kaden exclaimed. "What are you talking about? Why would you ever think that?" The two of them were now both standing, Ryan seething and Kaden trying to figure out how this conversation had even been started.

"Oh, I don't know," Ryan said, flailing his arms around. "It's just that as soon as I come here and meet you, my boyfriend stops paying any kind of attention to me and then once I've finally broken up with him, I see you and him out in the middle of campus PDA-ing it up for the whole world to see."

"What are you talking about?" Kaden asked. He had absolutely no idea where this was coming from. "I have a boyfriend. Why would I want to steal Troy away from you?"

"Don't even get me started on your closeted sorry excuse for a boyfriend," Ryan said, venom dripping from his tone.

That last sentence hit a nerve with Kaden and caused something to snap. He didn't know what neurons inside Ryan's head were misfiring to cause all of this, but that didn't mean he could take out all his insecurities on him. "What the hell, Ryan?" Kaden yelled. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but whatever it is doesn't mean you can just come in here and accuse me of doing whatever the hell you think I did."

"Yeah, well I call them like I see them," Ryan said. "And from what I saw today I'm living with a big backstabbing slut who only plays innocent until he's able to take exactly what he wants, and apparently this time it was Troy!"

"I was just talking to him!" Kaden yelled back with equal force. "Maybe if you would have done something like that the two of you wouldn't have broken up!" Kaden knew saying that was a mistake even before the words tumbled out of his mouth, but even he didn't believe that would cause Ryan to slap him.

But he was wrong.

Kaden reeled from the feeling of Ryan's hand making contact with his cheek. His hand immediately coming up to cover the now burning skin. He turned his head back to look at Ryan who was staring back at him with something that looked like shock written all over his face.

Before he even had a chance to say anything, Ryan turned on his heel and ran out of the room. Kaden just stood there looking after him. So much for that really good day.

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Troy was jerked awake by the ringing cell phone laying on his chest. He had been dozing off for the last hour waiting for Kaden to call him with the go ahead to get Ryan back. Picking up the phone and looking at the display, a smile graced his features. It was Kaden. Troy flipped open the phone, "Hey Kaden, did he leave yet?"

"Well," Kaden's voice answered back from the phone, "he just left, but I have no idea where he's going."

"What?" Troy asked. "I thought you were going to call me when he left for dinner."

"Yeah," Kaden started, chuckling nervously. "I mean, that was the plan and all, but things don't always go according to plan, right?"

"What are you talking about?" Troy asked, getting worried. "What's going on?"

"He saw us today in the quad," Kaden explained. "He saw us talking and touching and hugging. He thinks we're seeing each other behind his back."

"Oh no," Troy said, almost inaudibly.

"Yeah," Kaden said. "I came back to the room and we got into this huge fight and then he just left." He'd just have to leave the part about getting slapped out of it. "I don't know where he went, but he seemed near hysterics, Troy. You have to find him and put everything right."

"I — but what," Troy stuttered. "I don't even know where to begin or what to do."

"Troy," Kaden said, sounding more authoritative than ever before. "You know more about Ryan than anyone else. Just think about it and you'll know what to do. Now go get him."

Troy was silent for another moment.

"Now!" Kaden yelled.

Troy hung up the phone, put on a jacket and ran out of the room. He had to find Ryan.

**A/N: I spent a while debating whether to end the chapter with this part or to continue on to the next scene. You can obviously see which option won out. I just want to make sure to do the next scene justice. I'm sorry this took longer to update than normal. I promise to have the next part out as soon as possible. Until then, I hope you don't all hate me for leaving you with the mess I've created. I hope you all enjoy and continue reviewing. Thanks so much!**

**EnvoyOfWater:** I'm glad you like all the OCs. I didn't think I would have nearly as many as I'm ending up with and I know they are usually the kiss of death to most stories, so I'm glad people are embracing them. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**WriterOnWheels:** I'm sorry I haven't locked the two of them up yet. Hopefully that will come soon, though, right?

**uberpsi:** You have no idea what your comment meant to me. I know it sounds silly, but I'd like to write for a TV show some day and your comment just made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Keep reading!

**zacfan:** Thank you! And I know there are a lot of people out there who agree with you.

**bobrabbit100:** I'm glad the emotion is coming out in the writing. I guess that's what every author wants to hear, so thank you very much. Also, if you need to talk about anything, send me a PM.

**Charlz:** Thank you so much for your continued support with everything. I hope this chapter doesn't let you down.

**Serious Fan:** I try to do as much of Troy's perspective as Ryan's, but I don't know if that is actually coming across. And I wouldn't say that Ryan doesn't like Troy's fraternity brothers, he just sees them as competition. If he hated them, I'm sure he wouldn't be going to their dances or be so patient with Troy and everything that's happened.

**BluePuppeta.JAA:** It took me a minute before I realized who that was. Nice name change. I'm glad you enjoyed the alcohol portion of the last chapter. I had to draw from real life experiences with that one … not some of my proudest moments. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**LucasLover:** If writing them in separate scenes is hard for me, I can only imagine what it's like to read it. They're not back together … yet, but hopefully soon. Hopefully.

**OC4life:** Ha ha ha! Merry Christmas! Enjoy!

**astrozombie50:** I love Meg, too. She's modeled after my BFF.

**ellbtvsvm:** Expect big things from Jordan in the coming chapters. He's one to be on the lookout for!


	18. Chapter 18

Ryan sat on the dark stage of the university theater, his legs dangling over the edge. He had been sitting there for over 20 minutes; it was the only place where he seemed to be able to escape everything that was going on in his life at the moment.

He couldn't believe he slapped Kaden. What in the world had possessed him to do such a thing? He knew deep down that what he was spouting off in his dorm room wasn't the truth. He knew Kaden would never do something like that; he was too good, too much of a friend to do something like that. And he had probably ruined that when his open hand made contact with his roommate's cheek.

And it's not like Ryan had a lot going for him at the moment. Sure, he was doing well in classes, and he had made a few good friends since coming to school, but there wasn't much else. He wasn't involved in any kind of co-curricular activity, he hadn't even thought of auditioning for a production, and he had basically turned his nose at fraternities before he had even arrived at the campus.

He didn't know many people outside of the ones his friend's introduced him to, and he hadn't even met his friends on his own. He basically had Troy to thank for Meg and Leslie, and Kaden, who he couldn't really count as a friend right now, was probably only his friend because as roommates they were somewhat forced to be.

Ryan had to admit, that the shining star he once was had somewhat dulled since graduating high school. He had been toying with the notion of transferring to University of Albuquerque after the winter quarter, and now the idea seemed all the more appealing. At least there he could be with his sister and around some of his oldest friends.

Not to mention the fact that he wouldn't have to watch as Troy moved on with his life and further away from Ryan. It had been almost a month since he and Troy had broken up, and seeing as how the brunette had yet to even talk to him, Ryan was pretty sure their relationship had basically bitten the big one.

He let out a sight and lay back on the stage so that he was staring up into the vast abyss that was the dark theater. The theater had always been the place where he felt the most comfortable. No matter what trial he was going through in his life, once he entered the theater, he could put on a different hat and become someone completely different, someone who wouldn't take crap from anyone, someone who was never worried about what anyone thought of him, someone strong, someone popular, someone who was loved above any other.

This time, not even the stage could drive away his life problems. He had really done it this time. He didn't even know if he could go back to his room. Would Kaden even listen to him when he tried to apologize? He didn't even know if he could be that understanding … and he had lived with Sharpay for his entire life.

No, Ryan had no idea what he was going to do with himself for the next five weeks. He couldn't live with Meg. Her sorority didn't allow men to stay over — even if they were gay. And he didn't even want to think about staying with Leslie. He shuddered.

And what would Troy think of the whole situation? He was sure to find out. It wouldn't take long for Kaden to tell Jeff everything, and since he and Troy were roommates … well, it didn't take much to add two and two. Even if Troy had been considering getting back together, this whole situation was sure to cast a bad light on Ryan. He would probably rather cut all ties with him than give Ryan another chance.

And what was worse about the whole situation was that Kaden had been right. If he had just talked to Troy about how he was feeling, he wouldn't be in this mess right now. If he had just let Troy know what was bothering him, he'd still have his boyfriend.

Even with everything that Ryan was still uncertain about, he was sure of one thing: He had royally screwed up. He closed his eyes, folding his arms across his middle, loosing himself to the memories of better times had on stage. It was the only thing he had right now that could even come close to putting a smile on his face.

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It had been 15 minutes since Troy had hung up the phone with Kaden, and he didn't care if he sounded particularly melodramatic, but it had been the longest 15 minutes of his life. He had been running all over campus and he had no idea as to where Ryan had run off. What he needed to do was sit down and collect himself or he'd be out running around for who knows how long.

It was starting to get dark, and even though Troy felt stupid for thinking this, he felt like he was looking for a lost child. He was worried about Ryan and needed to find him soon.

And that's what found Troy sitting at a bench near the student union, the same bench on which he had spoken to Kaden to try and set up his reconciliation with Ryan. And that had turned out oh so well.

Troy sat there with his head in his hands thinking of everything that had led him to that moment. What the heck had gotten into Ryan lately? He couldn't imagine what had happened to turn the boy who would never hurt a fly into the person who accused his best friend of something he knew to be untrue and then hit him. And he hadn't exactly been the most fun person to hang around lately. He was always complaining about not being around Troy.

If he were truly honest with himself, though, he had to admit that he had been putting Ryan on the back burner. But he was trying to impress all the fraternity brothers … well, at first he was. He didn't know why he kept brushing Ryan off. He was already initiated, after all. He just wanted to find his place. Was that so much to ask? He didn't understand why Ryan couldn't just see that. After all, Ryan had … well, actually, Ryan hadn't done much of anything besides go to class since they started school.

But he had friends. Well, he had a few. Meg and Leslie took up a lot of his time. They kept him busy with things and introduced him to new people. And then there was Kaden. He and Ryan were inseparable ever since they met … well, they had been, until he started dating Jeff. There weren't many people after that.

In fact, once Troy actually took stock of what all Ryan actually did and who he knew, the list was very short. It was a far cry from what that list would have looked like just last year. Maybe that had something to do with …

And then it hit Troy like a ton of bricks. He knew exactly where Ryan was. There was only one place that made Ryan truly feel at ease with himself when he wasn't with Troy. He stood up from the bench and began slowly making his way for the university theater. He would have run, but he needed to mull over a few of the things he had been thinking about since Kaden's phone call.

--------------------------------------------

Ryan was just about to get up off the stage when he heard a door creak open toward the entrance to the theater. He sat up and brushed himself off. The last thing he needed was to add to his humiliation by being found sprawled out across the stage by someone he didn't even know.

He listened as footsteps approached nearer and nearer the stage. Since the only lighting in the building was the dim glow of the emergency lights, Ryan couldn't see who it was until he was standing almost directly in front of him.

"I guess Kaden sent you after me," Ryan said, heaving a sigh as Troy's form became visible to him. He looked away from Troy, not wanting to see the shame and disappointment he was sure to find in his ex-boyfriend's crystal blue eyes.

"He told me what happened, sure," Troy said, taking the last few steps until he was standing right next to the blond who was still perched at his place on stage. "But I came after you because I wanted to, because I needed to talk with you. Not because Kaden wanted me to."

"So, you've come to tell me what an awful person I am for doing such a shitty thing to my best friend, well," Ryan began to correct himself, "my only real friend here?" He then pushed himself up off the stage into a standing position and dusted off his rear. "Don't worry. I already feel like a complete ass."

He then moved to leave the theater, but was stopped as Troy gripped his upper arm and held him in place. "Now that I'm here, I'm going to talk with you, Ry," he said. "Enough of us tip toeing around each other. We need to talk through this."

"Talk through what?" Ryan asked as he tried to break free of Troy's grip. "The fact that you've transitioned so perfectly to life here while poor, little Ryan has been left in the dust? How you've apparently moved on so quickly after us breaking up? About how I hit one of my best friends? Which one of those lovely topics did you want to tackle first?"

The venom with which Ryan spoke those words surprised Troy, but he didn't lessen his grip on the blond's forearm. "What has gotten into you?" he asked. "What happened to the kind, sensitive boy I used to date?"

"Used to date," Ryan said lowly. "You must have left him behind when you decided to move on with your life and leave me in the dust."

"What are you talking about?" Troy asked. "I never left you behind, and I never wanted to. You're the one who called things off, remember?"

Ryan laughed and shook his head, turning to face Troy, shaking free of his grip but not making any move to walk away. "I may have been the one to actually say the words, but you were the one who pulled out of the relationship, Troy."

Troy stood there, a confused look on his face. He knew Ryan was having some problems, but this was beyond what even he had thought of. "I don't understand," he muttered.

"Of course you don't," Ryan said. "You were so busy being on your way to achieving universal popularity all over again while I was busy being exactly the way I was before we started dating that you didn't even notice that I didn't just want to spend time with you. I needed you. I needed you to be there for me. But you weren't. You said you would always be there for me, but you weren't."

By the end of his short speech, tears were falling down Ryan's porcelain cheeks once again that evening. Troy was almost too choked up to say anything, but croaked out, "I didn't know."

"How could you not?" Ryan asked through a sob. "I was so mean to you sometimes, yelling at you, fighting with you. I never fight with you. I never fight with anyone, and yet you still didn't do anything. You didn't ask me any questions. Nothing."

His shoulders then slumped, as if he had finally given up some kind of internal battle. "I know you talked with my mom about me leaving the house at all hours of the night over break. Why didn't you ever ask me about it? I thought you would have at least been jealous, thought I was going out to see someone without telling you."

Troy was at a loss. "I — I had planned on asking you," he said. "But I never thought it was a good time. You were always so angry and I didn't want to upset you."

"It upset me even more when you didn't take the time to figure out what was going on," Ryan said, again looking away from Troy, not wanting the other boy to see him shed anymore tears.

"What were you doing all those nights?" Troy asked softly. Ryan turned to face him again, and then moved to take a seat in the audience chairs. Troy just stood where he was, not trusting his legs.

After taking his seat, Ryan began speaking again. "Just like here, Troy," he said, motioning to their surroundings. "I went to the only place where I always belonged. I broke into the high school theater every night. It made me think of the better times. Before I realized that I was just holding you back from becoming who you were supposed to be."

"What are you talking about?" Troy said. He was not following Ryan's logic anymore. "How were you holding me back?"

"Oh come on," Ryan said. "You've joined a fraternity; you have more friends than you know what to do with and you're basically becoming the golden boy here, just like you were back home. And here I am," he said, gesturing to himself in the seat, "I have no idea what I'm doing; I know only a handful of people — I'm basically back to being just that drama guy again, only this time I don't even have that to fall back on."

Finally, Troy took a step toward Ryan and kneeled in front of him. "Ryan, how can you possibly see yourself like that? Sure, I have a ton of friends, but they're really more like acquaintances. They don't really know anything about me. You have Kaden and Meg and Leslie … and they would do practically anything for you.

"Everyone you decide to make your friend, is one of the luckiest people," Troy said, feeling somewhat sappy for saying all of this, but it needed to be said. "You draw people to you, Ryan. You may not notice it, but it's true. It's what drew me to you in the first place."

"You're just saying that," Ryan said. He may have been down on his luck, but he didn't need his ex-boyfriend's pity.

"No," Troy said, grabbing a hold of Ryan's hand. "I'm not. I love you. Your friends love you. And if you're having trouble deciding what to do here, you're not the only one. Everyone goes through it. You know that I've been thinking about changing my major. And if it's something different than that, you know I would be more than willing to help you."

"But why," Ryan began. "Why did you never ask me anything? Why did you make me feel like I didn't matter to you anymore? Do you know how much it hurts to think that the one person you love more than anything else has moved on?"

"Ryan," Troy started, now holding both of the blond's hands in his own. "I may love you more than anything else, but I can't read minds. You never told me what was wrong and I can't help you unless you say something."

Ryan at least looked a little chagrined by what Troy had just said. "I told you I wanted to spend more time with you."

"I know that," Troy said. "And I'm sorry, but I'm going through some of the same things you are. I needed to find my own place. I guess," he continued, wanting to let Ryan know how sorry he was for everything, "I guess I just forgot that you were having problems, too."

Ryan still looked confused at what Troy was just saying, so Troy took another breath and continued. "You see, Ry, you're so strong," he said, watching as Ryan laughed at it, not believing a word. "You are. You have no idea how much I rely on your strength every time we face something new. Like when we first me Jeff, and how about when we first got here. I relied on you so much. I just didn't think you'd be worrying about some of the same things I was.

"I'm sorry I ever made you doubt me," Troy said. "I really am."

Tears were once again falling down Ryan's cheeks. He felt like such a girl. He didn't know whether he was crying because he was sad or crying because he was finally talking with Troy about everything that had been bothering him.

"I'm sorry, too," he said. "I'm sorry I let things get so far out of hand. I should have known that you would listen to me. I guess I just wanted to try and test you. It was stupid, really. I don't know why I did it now. But it made sense at the time."

Ryan smiled as he looked at Troy, who was happy to see a smile finally grace that perfect face again. "So, what do we do now?" Ryan asked.

"Well," Troy started. "I wouldn't mind giving it another go, if that's what you want."

Ryan smiled and nodded his head. "That's exactly what I want."

Troy then leaned in, and for the first time in over a month, he pressed his lips against Ryan's. It was a sweet homecoming to say the least. Troy savored the taste that was uniquely Ryan's as his tongue swept around the corners of Ryan's mouth, begging for entrance.

Soon, the two were standing, a tangled mess of limbs, Ryan's hands going through Troy's hair while the brunette's were placed firmly on his boyfriend's hips. Troy then pulled away and smiled at Ryan before sweeping him off his feet and cradling him in his arms.

Ryan giggled as he wrapped his arms around Troy's neck, truly content for the first time in weeks.

"So," Troy started. "Where to?"

"Take me home?" Ryan asked.

"I think I can handle that." Troy said, carrying Ryan out of the theater.

**A/N: Well, I know this is shorter than normal, but seeing as how this was supposed to end the last chapter, I hope you'll forgive me. It would have made for a horrendously long chapter. I assume this is what most of you have been waiting for and I just wanted to try and do justice to what I was envisioning for their reconciliation. This kind of brings a close to the second act of the story, but there's still a whole lot more to come, I promise. I hope you all enjoy and continue reviewing! Until next time!**

**And thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Shadow Cat17, hsmlover111, bobrabbit100, just-nikki, uberpsi, EnvoyOfWater, OC4life, ellbtvsvm, Charlz, Dodecahedron (I love that name!), LucasLover, BitterGrin, BluePuppeta.JAA, fieryflame, astrozombie50, Phoenix II, WriterOnWheels. Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments!**


	19. Chapter 19

"I don't know if I can do it, Troy," Ryan said as he and his newly reconciled boyfriend approached his residence hall. "What if he doesn't listen to me? I mean, I wouldn't blame him. He totally didn't deserve any of the crap I threw at him, but what if he doesn't even want to be my roommate—"

"Ryan," Troy said, grabbing the blond around his middle, effectively cutting his ranting boyfriend off, "I'm sure he'll accept your apology and everything will go back to normal. You know Kaden is basically the most understanding guy we've ever met. Just go in there and tell him you're sorry."

Ryan sighed, but stayed close to his boyfriend's body, taking comfort wherever he could get it. "I guess you're right," Ryan sighed again. "Let's go."

The two continued walking toward the building, Ryan getting more nervous with each step, and Troy continuing to give comfort and reassurance. They walked into the lobby and then into the elevator. When the doors opened on Ryan's floor the two stepped out and began walking down the hall.

Just before Ryan went to open his room door, he turned around to Troy. "Before we go in, I just wanted to say that I really am sorry about everything that happened," Troy made a motion to interrupt, but Ryan held a finger to his mouth. "I know we still have a lot to talk about and I have a lot of things to work on, but I just want you to know that I love you. More than words."

Then he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his boyfriend's mouth, turned around and opened the door to his room.

He walked in slowly, looking around for any sign of his roommate, which didn't take too long. Kaden was sitting at his desk, working on something. Ryan stood near the door, with Troy behind him, and made a noise to alert his Kaden that someone was there.

Kaden turned around, looking at Ryan, then at Troy. "So, did you two finally make up?" he asked.

Ryan stared down at the floor and Troy blushed, but pushed Ryan forward hoping to spur him into action of some kind. He began walking closer to Kaden, slowly but surely, and stopped when he was standing right in front of his roommate.

The look on Ryan's face betrayed all of the emotions that were running through him at the moment and he let out a gasp when he saw the ugly, red welt on Kaden's face left there earlier by the palm of his hand.

"Oh my God," Ryan breathed as he reached out to touch the mark, but Kaden pulled away.

"Don't," Kaden said, making sure that Ryan didn't come into contact with what was sure to be a painful reminder of their fight.

"Oh, Kaden," Ryan said, pulling back from his roommate. "I can't believe I did that to you—"

"Look," Kaden said, cutting Ryan off. "That hurt," he said, pointing to the mark on his face. "But what hurt even more was that you would accuse me of trying to steal Troy from you. I though you knew me better than that."

"I — I know," Ryan said. He was near tears now at being confronted with how bad he had messed up. "I'm so sorry; I don't know how I'll ever make it up to you."

"Why don't we just chalk it up to boy craziness and leave it at that?" Kaden said, offering Ryan a smile.

Ryan smiled back, and nodded, too relieved to say anything. He did, however, wrap Kaden up in a big hug. When he pulled back, Kaden gave him a serious look. "But if you do something like that again, I will break your hand," he said.

The two roommates pulled apart and then Kaden looked over toward the door where Troy was still standing, watching them make up. "And you," he said. "I guess you were finally able to get this guy to listen to you. Sorry if I didn't follow your plan out exactly, but I guess it all still worked out."

Troy chuckled and moved further in the room. He walked up to Kaden and also wrapped him in a hug. "Thank you for everything," he said.

"No problem," Kaden said. "Although, next time we go to the mall I will accept any gift you want to lavish upon me."

All three laughed and Troy made his way to stand next to Ryan, grabbing his hand with his own. It had been so long since they had been with each other and able to show any kind of affection that now when they were around each other, but not touching it somehow seemed like a missed opportunity.

They all spent the next while just hanging around, talking about random things and cracking jokes. Whenever Kaden wanted something Ryan would jump up and get it before the blond could even think about getting up, which caused him to laugh. Overall, it was just nice for things to be getting back to normal.

After a while, though, Troy got up off the bed and picked up his jacket from the floor where he had discarded it earlier. "I guess I should be heading out," he said.

"Do you have to?" Ryan asked, getting up off the bed and walking over to his boyfriend. "I don't want you to go. I know I sound like a whiney girl, but I don't care."

Troy smiled, and looked over to Kaden. He didn't want to impose on the other man more than he already had.

Kaden just laughed. "It's not like I haven't seen much worse from the two of you. Go ahead and have your little sleepover."

Ryan smiled and pulled Troy back over to his bed. They continued talking for a while longer, but then the day's events finally caught up with them all. Kaden was the first to go to bed, and Troy and Ryan followed soon after.

With the lights off, Ryan cuddled up to his boyfriend's chest soaking up all the warmth from his muscular body that he could. It was so nice not having to go to sleep by himself anymore. He smiled and placed a light kiss on Troy's chest over his heart a whispered 'I love you' on his lips right before he fell into a peaceful sleep.

"I love you, too," Troy said, holding Ryan tightly as he fell asleep. The two lovers didn't move an inch all night long.

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Troy had woken long before his boyfriend. He spent the quiet time just looking at Ryan and thinking about everything that had led them to this point. Most people thought Ryan was the weak one in the relationship, that Troy was there to make sure that Ryan didn't get himself lost in the shuffle. Others had likened it to Ryan having stepped out of his sister's shadow and into Troy's.

That was untrue. Troy needed Ryan just as much as Ryan needed him. Troy thought maybe people viewed their relationship the way they did was because, if Troy was to be perfectly honest, Ryan was far more in-tune with his emotions and feelings than Troy ever had been. Maybe it was all the acting that helped Ryan with that, surely you had to understand yourself before you could understand a character you were supposed to portray.

Maybe Ryan was seen of as more needy because when he was confused or needed something, he made it known, whereas Troy, like most guys, bottled it all up. Emotions are weakness. That's what Troy had always thought. But maybe there was something to letting people know when you were confused, upset or just lost.

Ryan didn't know what he was doing or where he fit in at this new place, and he admitted it. Troy, on the other hand, didn't and masked his feelings of uncertainty by joining a group, which seemingly gave him a place to fit in, but really just masked the fact that he was still unsure about anything himself.

Troy stopped for a second. 'Maybe I should go into psychology,' he thought. He could probably give Dr. Phil a run for his money. He then shook his head and returned his attention to his now-waking boyfriend.

Ryan's eyes fluttered open and a smile graced his features. "Morning," he mumbled as Troy brushed the fringe off his forehead.

"Sleep well?" Troy asked softly.

Ryan just nodded and moved to nuzzle his face into Troy's body. Troy then brought his arm up to wrap around his boyfriend's torso and noticed the metallic glint that came from his hand.

The ring. He had almost forgotten about it. "Ryan," Troy said, nudging his boyfriend. "Ry, there's something I need to give back to you."

Ryan pulled slightly away from his boyfriend, with a frown on his face. He was just getting comfortable again and Troy wanted to talk. Troy took the ring off his pinky finger and held it out in front of Ryan.

"I want you to have this back," Troy said.

Ryan looked up at his boyfriend and smiled before taking the ring out of Troy's palm and then slipping it back onto his ring finger. "Right back where it belongs," he said.

He leaned up to place a soft kiss on Troy's lips before going back to his earlier snuggle position. Troy just laughed and settled back down into the bed. Apparently they were going to sleep for a little while longer.

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Two weeks had passed since, what Kaden had started calling, 'The Great Reconciliation.' Things between Troy and Ryan were good, far from perfect, but good. The lines of communication had been opened and the two were talking through their problems rather than ignoring them. Ryan and Kaden had slipped almost seamlessly back into their roles of roommates/best friends, the slapping incident actually bringing them closer together, and on the whole, life was much better now than it had been the month prior.

Currently, the three of them and Jeff were on their way to the Chi Delt house. It had taking quite a bit of convincing on Jeff's part to get Troy to agree to come, but having been assured they would only be there long enough for Jeff to pick up a few things, Troy had grudgingly agreed.

Ryan, having never been to the house, jumped at the opportunity to scope out the people who had been so mean to his boyfriend. Troy said it was just the diva in Ryan coming to the surface, but Ryan thought of it as his way of protecting Troy.

As the four friends came up to the house, Ryan gave it a once over and passed judgment that the house was a dump and that Troy was better off having not joined it based simply on the fact that Ryan would never be caught dead at the place. He, of course, didn't say this out loud. He didn't want to offend Jeff, even though in his opinion someone needed to knock some serious sense into that boy, and for multiple reasons.

The four walked into the house, and followed Jeff as he climbed the staircase up to the study rooms. Study was probably a term used loosely to describe the rooms as the Chi Delts weren't necessarily known for their stellar academic performance.

They followed Jeff down the hallway, past several rooms where guys were either sleeping, playing video games or to Ryan's surprise, actually studying. Ryan's nose wrinkled as they passed the bathroom. "God, I don't know how people can live in places like this," he said, gesturing to the bathroom whose door was open allowing a nice view of the trash bin that was overflowing with garbage. "I mean, they're dirty and they have a god-awful stink." He then turned to Troy and added, "I hope you don't expect me to come over to your house very much next year once you've moved in."

"Oh," Troy said in a mock pleading tone, "but then you'll miss out on all the male bonding."

"Male bonding is something I can live without if this is what it entails," Ryan said, still thinking about the disgusting bathroom.

Just then, they stopped in front of a room. Kaden stayed back while Jeff walked in. Ryan was curious, so he poked his head through to see what was going on. Again, he was unimpressed. His attention was drawn from the room, however, when he heard people talking behind him. He turned just as one of the members approached Troy.

"Hey," the guy said. "You're that fag that was here during rush that one night."

That caught Ryan's attention, enough so to change his posture and cock his head in a manner that obviously begged the question of whether or not the guy was stupid enough to just vocalize his thoughts.

The motion caught the member's attention, which was then focused completely on Ryan. "And who are you?" he asked. "You his boyfriend?"

"So what if I am?" Ryan asked. "You have a problem with that?"

"And what if I do?" the guy countered, stepping closer to the blond.

By then, Kaden's attention had been shifted from his boyfriend to the storm that was brewing in the hallway. He moved closer to Ryan and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ryan," he whispered. "Don't. You're just going to make things worse if you do anything."

"That's a load of crap," Ryan said, without moving his gaze toward his friend. "I don't deserve to be insulted, even if this isn't my house. I don't even know this jackass and he's going to say shit like that to me? I don't think so."

Troy then moved back toward his boyfriend, "I think Kaden is right, Ry," he said. "I think maybe we should just go wait outside. It's no use making this a bigger deal than it already is." Ryan turned his head to Troy in defiance, but after seeing the concern in his boyfriend's face, he heaved a sigh and muttered something that sounded like 'fine.'

Kaden went back to the room and let Jeff know that the three of them were going to be waiting outside and then came back to escort his two friends past the group of fraternity members who were now gathered in the hall.

Kaden tried his best to get them out of the house as quickly as possible, with as little interaction with the members as possible. Ryan, however, leveled all of the guys in the hall with a glare that spoke loud and clear that this issue was far from over.

The glare was returned with equal force.

-------------------------------------------------

After waiting outside for several minutes, Jeff had come out to tell them to go ahead with out him, he needed to take care of a few more things. A few more things, apparently turned out to be a lot, which is why Kaden was now sitting on a set of bleachers with Ryan as they watched Troy's intramural basketball game.

Kaden had to admit, Troy was incredibly talented on the court. He was surprised that the brown-haired ball player hadn't been offered a scholarship to play for the university team, especially since they were in desperate need of some new talent. Ryan hollered as Troy sunk another shot. The brunette looked up into the stands and smiled and waved to his boyfriend.

Kaden also had to admit that Troy looked damn sexy in a basketball uniform, his body all sweaty and hot, his muscles flexing as he ran, blocked shots and dribbled the ball. But Kaden shook his head. Troy was definitely more than off limits, he knew that. But sill, it couldn't hurt to look, right?

His thoughts now off Troy's delectable body, he couldn't help but let them drift to the reason why he was sitting in the stands right now with his friend and not his boyfriend. Even after all they had been through, even after all their setbacks, Troy and Ryan were still leaps and bounds ahead of where he was in his relationship with Jeff. His boyfriend wouldn't show any kinds of public affection with him, hell, he barely even recognized their relationship outside of their own private interactions.

And here were Troy and Ryan, two weeks back together and already functioning more like a couple than Jeff and he ever had. There was no awkwardness between them and Ryan never felt awkward around any of Troy's friends and vice versa.

"Do you ever get the feeling that Troy is trying to hide you from his friends?" Kaden asked Ryan during a timeout from the game.

Ryan looked over to his roommate, an incredulous look on his face. "No," he said, his brows furrowed. "Why would you ask that?"

"I don't know," Kaden sighed. "It's just … sometimes I get the feeling that Jeff doesn't want anyone to know about me, you know? Like I'm his dirty, little secret."

All of a sudden, realization dawned on Ryan. It all made perfect sense to him. "Sometimes people just aren't ready to be public with something like this," he said, moving closer next to his friend, trying to comfort him. "What you need to decide is whether or not you can live with being a secret. Sometimes, it all works out for the best, other times, you just have to cut your losses."

"I know," Kaden said. "But what do you do if you feel so strongly for someone? I mean, I told him I loved him — several times — and he can't even get up the courage to say it back to me."

Ryan put his hand on Kaden's knee and smiled sadly at him. "Sometimes, no matter how hard we want to make something work, it's not meant to be. I don't want to be a downer or anything, but maybe it just wasn't meant to be."

"I don't want to believe that," Kaden said. He looked up at Ryan with conviction in his eyes. "I refuse to believe that I can't make it work. It'll take time, I know, but I can make this work, Ryan."

"Whatever you decide to do, I'll be there to help you out," Ryan said. "I promise. I just don't want you getting hurt."

"It's a little too late for that, now, don't you think?" Kaden asked.

"Well," Ryan started, not really knowing what to say to that, "things could always be worse, couldn't they?"

"I guess," Kaden responded. "It's just … he's so sweet and kind and caring when we're by ourselves, but all that changes, especially when we're around his fraternity brothers. He acts like I don't even exist, let alone that we're actually sleeping with one another."

Ryan just looked at his friend for a moment, the game completely forgotten. "I really don't know what to tell you," he said, and that was the truth. "You deserve better than what you're getting, but if you think you can work it out and that it's worth all the trouble, then I believe you."

Kaden smiled in thanks for his roommate's vote of confidence. It was no secret that Ryan didn't think too highly of Jeff, but it was nice to know that he at least thought something of Kaden and his opinion.

The two continued watching the game after that. Troy, of course led his team to victory. Apparently Sigma Phi Gamma hadn't had such a good intramural team in over ten years and they were in no way going to let Troy go now that they were in the running for first place in the basketball league.

Ryan tried as hard as he could to keep Kaden's mind off the matter that was troubling him so much, but even the mini-wave he had concocted wasn't able to do the trick.

When the game was finished, Ryan tried to get Kaden to stick around with him, but he begged off, saying he needed to head back to their room to get some homework finished. It was a lie, of course, but Ryan knew when to argue about certain things.

At least he'd get to spend some time alone with Troy.

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Ryan stood outside of the gymnasium waiting for his boyfriend. After a few minutes, Troy walked out, a sweatshirt over his torso, but otherwise still only dressed in his basketball uniform.

He smiled when he spotted Ryan standing over by the bike rack. "I haven't lost my touch, have I?" Troy asked, walking over to Ryan.

"Nope," Ryan said, giving his boyfriend a hug. "You also haven't lost your modesty either, but that's what I love about you."

"You love a lot more about me than that," Troy said, placing a kiss on Ryan's forehead. "Do you want to go get some ice cream uptown?"

"Ice cream?" Ryan asked. "It's still February. It's about 40 degrees outside and you only have on gym shorts and a sweatshirt and you want to go get ice cream?"

Troy laughed. "Well, I thought it would give us a nice opportunity for a walk, and I know you can never resist ice cream. Your sweet tooth would never let you pass up an opportunity for sugar."

Ryan laughed and then grabbed Troy's hand and began leading him away from the building. "Well, I guess you're right," he said. "I'll come with you as long as you're paying."

The two began walking off campus toward the uptown business district, hand in hand. Even though Ryan had on jeans, two shirts, a sweatshirt and a jacket on he was still cold. Apparently he still hadn't adapted from the warm weather of New Mexico. A shiver ran through his body and he huddled next to Troy, who looked down at his boyfriend and smiled.

"Do you want my sweatshirt?" Troy asked a smile playing on his lips. "I wouldn't want you to freeze off any important body parts."

"You're one to talk," Ryan said, taking in Troy's appearance. "You've got shorts on. I'm the one should be scared of you freezing of body parts we are both quite fond of."

"Oh, you're pretty cheeky tonight aren't you?" Troy asked, wrapping his arm around his boyfriend. "After you finish your ice cream I might just have to take you away to some private corner of campus and have my way with you."

"And who said I'm going to let you?" Ryan asked.

"You think you'll be able to stop me, big boy?" Troy joked.

The two continued walking up the street, toward the ice cream shop. The streets were pretty empty, but that wasn't much of a surprise, the winter weather had still not left and most people who were out at night chose to travel by car instead of by foot. But it was all for the best. It gave Troy and Ryan an opportunity to just be themselves outside of the comfort of their own rooms.

They came up to the storefront and Troy held the door open for Ryan who walked inside. Who said chivalry wasn't dead? "I can't believe you're going to get ice cream," Ryan said. "Let's at least eat it in here so you don't freeze to death."

"Yes, mother," Troy said. "Now, you go order us something while I go wash up real quick. I promise I'll be back in time to pay."

Troy went in to the restroom and ran some warm water. He hadn't had the opportunity to shower after his game and he didn't even want to think about where that basketball had been. It didn't take him long, but apparently it was too long. When he exited the bathroom, Ryan was already sitting down at a table.

"Where's the ice cream?" he asked while approaching his boyfriend. "And I thought I told you it would be my treat. You weren't supposed to pay."

"It's okay," Ryan said. "Besides, I got us some hot chocolate instead. All of the sugar, none of the cold. Now I won't have to worry about you becoming an icicle on the way home."

"Well that was very thoughtful of you," Troy said, taking a seat next to his boyfriend and grabbing his drink. He put his arm around Ryan's shoulder and the two sat their in companionable silence for a few minutes.

"I've missed things like this," Ryan said in between drinks of his cocoa. "Just us, no one else, no one to impress or anything."

"I know what you mean," Troy replied. "Do you want to just run away to some remote tropical island and become beach bums? I don't need anyone else, but you."

Ryan laughed. "Where did that come from?" he asked.

"I don't know," Troy said, shrugging his shoulders. "It just sounded like a good idea."

"It sure does," Ryan said, with a dreamy look in his eyes. "That warm weather and all those cute surfers. Let's go now."

"Hey," Troy said, pretending to be upset, "I thought it was just going to be the two of us on this remote island. Besides, I look pretty good in a bathing suit, if I do say so myself."

Ryan just continued to laugh. "That you do, babe," he said.

Troy smiled and leaned over to place a kiss on his boyfriend's lips. He tasted faintly of mint, chocolate and his own unique taste. It was almost intoxicating. "What do you say we finish these drinks on the way home?" Troy asked. "I want to get under some nice warm covers with you and watch a movie. How does that sound?"

"Sounds fantastic," Ryan said, getting up from his chair. "I'm in the mood for something scary."

"Really?" Troy asked. It wasn't normal that Ryan actually wanted to watch a scary movie, but he wasn't going to argue. It would more than likely just give him more of an excuse to get closer to his boyfriend.

At Ryan's nod, he got up and grabbed Ryan's hand. "Well, then, let's get going. I don't want to keep you out too late. People will start questioning your honor."

They both just laughed as the left the shop. Things were finally looking up for the two of them.

**A/N: I just wanted to respond to some of the comments I got for the last chapter. I don't think Ryan is a weak character, in fact, I think he is the exact opposite. I think he's very strong, he's just also very open about his emotions (for a guy). I don't think I was trying to say he was weak by having him tell Troy that he was scared and worried, and maybe I could have come up with a better way of getting that point across … but yeah.**

**Anyway. Here is the newest chapter! Can anyone smell more drama coming down the pike? I know I can. I'm also sorry I didn't get to respond to reviewers in the last chapter, but I was kind of in a rush … college waits for no one. I hope you all continue reading and reviewing. I hope you all enjoy!**

**bobrabbit100:** You know it wouldn't make for an interesting story if people learned from each other's mistakes … besides, I think the issues between Jeff and Kaden are totally different from the issues Troy and Ryan had to deal with. I'm glad you feel like you can relate to the character! Hurray! That means I'm doing something right!

**BluePuppeta.JAA:** I could actually picture your review as I was writing the last chapter, and you did not disappoint. I knew it was cliché, but like I told you, it was supposed to be. The worst is yet to come and Troy and Ryan needed to be back together for that.

**just-nikki:** I completely agree. Reading fanfiction is a much better decision than working on research papers. That's exactly what I'm doing when I'm writing the chapters. So if my grades suffer … I'm blaming you. jk.

**ellbtvsvm:** I don't think there's such a thing as too much when you're writing. You just need to make it believable. And I wouldn't hold out too much for Parker … Jordan on the other hand … You might just want to grab some more popcorn.

**WriterOnWheels:** I'm glad you like my portrayal of Ryan. I try to stay as true to what they give him in the movies while expanding on it. Although, I don't like to make him as stupid as he was in the first movie. I'm happy you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you continue reading and reviewing!

**LucasLover:** I hope there was enough Tryan fluffiness in this chapter for you. Enjoy!

**Phoenix II:** I'm sorry there weren't any frozen peas in this chapter for you … but am I really that predictable? What do you think is going to happen in the next chapter? I'm really interested to see what you think will happen. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**ShadowCat17:** Wanting to hit Ryan over the head was not so out of the question … he probably could have used it right about then. I hope you continue reading!

**uberpsi:** You love Grey's too? Yes! I hope you've enjoyed the last two chapters. Thank you for encouraging my far-fetched dream, too. I hope to hear from you again soon.

**OC4life:** I'm glad you enjoyed the reconciliation! I hope I don't let you down with this chapter either.


	20. Chapter 20

It had taken a lot of convincing, and more than one sexual favor, but Troy had convinced Ryan not to go home for spring break. The plan had originally been for the two of them to rent a car and drive to the coast. Troy had never seen the ocean before and so Ryan though this would be the perfect opportunity for them to get away from everything for just a little while.

Unfortunately, their plans had to go through some last minute rearranging. Jeff, who had planned on going with Kaden up to Portland for the week had to cancel due to some last minute fraternity stuff. Instead of watching Kaden mope around for the two weeks leading up to spring break, they invited him to come along.

It's not that they didn't want Kaden with them, it's just that the trip wouldn't be the little romantic getaway they had been planning on, but they would make it work. They always did.

Now they were driving down the highway in a rented Nissan Altima — there wasn't much to choose from in a town where the college population was larger than the city's. Troy was driving with Ryan in the passenger seat. Kaden was in the back and the new Britney Spears album was playing over the speakers.

Kaden was dancing to the beat, off in his own world, while Ryan sang along. Troy was the only one who wasn't necessarily having the greatest time. Ryan shot a look over at his boyfriend and rested a hand on his thigh; it was a close to any kind of hanky panky they were going to get on this trip.

Troy smiled back at his boyfriend and then laughed when he continued to lip sync to the music. The trip continued in much the same way for the next half hour, until they came upon a rest stop. Kaden had been talking about going to the bathroom for a while, so Troy pulled over and let his friend sprint out.

"Are you having a good time, babe?" Ryan asked once Kaden had left, offering his boyfriend a supportive smile. He knew this wasn't what Troy had planned, but he was hoping to make the best of the situation.

"Yeah," Troy said, although it wasn't very convincing. "I'm just anxious to get to the beach and actually do something other than just drive a car. I don't know, I guess I just thought that if we were alone, the car ride would have been a little different."

"Huh?" Ryan said, obviously confused. "What do you mean? We would still be in the car for over two hours, still driving up and down the same road."

"I know," Troy said, beginning to blush. "But it would have just been the two of us. It would have been different."

Ryan continued to look at Troy, attempting to figure out what the heck he was talking about. Then, all of a sudden, it was like a light bulb had been switched on inside his head. "Oooooooh," Ryan leered. "I know what you were thinking." He smiled playfully and got up so that his knees were on his seat and leaned over so that his face was right next to Troy's, which looked awfully red at the moment. "You thought that if we were alone on this trip that I would have put out on the way."

Troy just continued looking forward, not really wanting to face the ridicule of his boyfriend at the moment. Ryan continued anyway. "You thought that you would get some road head out of this, didn't you?" he asked. "My, my, Troy, you _did_ have some awfully big plans for this trip."

"Okay!" Troy burst out, "Okay. So, I thought that we could maybe try something adventurous during spring break. And it's not like I'm mad that Kaden's with us, I just, I don't know … I was really looking forward to being alone with you away from anyone who knows us."

"I know," Ryan said as he brushed Troy's hair behind his ear. "And we'll still have a great time and try new things. We'll just have to be a little more … discreet about them, right?"

Troy looked over at Ryan and smiled. "Right," he agreed.

Ryan then leaned over and kissed Troy. It started out chaste enough, but was soon rising in passion. He pressed his lips more firmly against his boyfriend's and was soon running his tongue around Troy's mouth, asking for entrance. Troy happily obliged and soon his tongue was exploring the familiar recesses of Ryan's mouth.

Troy placed his hands on Ryan's waist and began pulling him closer. Soon Ryan was climbing over the center console and straddling Troy's lap. Their hands were roaming all through one another's hair. The sounds of lips smacking and soft moans the only thing filling the cabin of the car.

Ryan leaned back and was startled when the horn honked unexpectedly. He turned around quickly and then laughed when he realized that his leaning back had caused his butt to depress the horn.

He turned around again, facing his boyfriend who was now also laughing. "I guess that was kind of a mood kill, wasn't it?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, well it's just as good," Troy said. "Kaden should be coming back soon, and I don't really know how appropriate it is for me to practically be molesting you in a public parking lot."

The mention of Kaden, finally brought Ryan back to reality. He moved back over into his seat and buckled back up. "Where is Kaden anyway?" Ryan asked. "It shouldn't have taken him this long to go to the bathroom."

"Well," Kaden said as he opened the door. "I didn't think the two of you would ever finish that."

Ryan and Troy both had the courtesy to blush. "You, you mean you saw all of that?" Troy asked.

"What do you think?" Kaden said. "It's not like the windshield blocks a whole lot from people on the outside. I think you gave some of the truckers a pretty good show."

Troy smacked his forehead and groaned while Ryan blushed and leaned his head onto Troy's shoulder. Kaden just sat in the back of the car and laughed until Troy started the car back up and began pulling out of the rest stop parking lot.

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Troy pulled the car into the hotel parking lot, taking in the weather as he pulled into a parking space. It was mostly overcast, which wasn't that surprising given that it was Oregon. He opened the car door and took a step out, breathing in the sea-salty air.

"Why don't you and Kaden get everything out of the car while I go check us in," he said to Ryan who was just waking up from a nap. He closed his car door and began walking to the hotel office.

Ryan turned around in his seat and tapped Kaden on the shoulder, motioning for him to get up and join him behind the car to get all their luggage. The two slowly made their way behind the rented vehicle, trying to shake the sleep from their sore bodies.

"Is it bad that I just want to go collapse on the bed in our room?" Kaden asked. "I feel like it's such a waste for me to travel over three hours only to sleep in a different bed."

"I don't really care what I do," Ryan said, as he pulled one bag from the trunk. "I'm away from school; I'm with my boyfriend, and I'm going to have a good time. Whatever we end up doing, we'll have fun."

"As long as that 'fun' doesn't happen while I'm in the room, I won't mind a bit," Kaden joked. Ryan just threw a pillow at him, which, thankfully he caught before it had the opportunity to fall on the ground.

Troy then walked back out to the car, keys to their hotel room in hand. "I see you two got a lot done while I was checking us in," Troy said, a smile on his face.

"Well, I had to defend my honor against Kaden's slanderous statements," Ryan said, grabbing his pillow back and heaving his large suitcase out of the car. "Now, let's see this room."

Troy walked up and grabbed Ryan's bag from him, for which Ryan gave him a thankful smile and followed him toward the main building. Kaden pulled the trunk shut and then hurried to catch up with his friends.

Their room was on the third floor and that provided an amazing view of the beachfront, but it also meant that they had to haul all of their luggage up two flights of stairs … and Ryan wasn't necessarily known for packing light.

When they reached their room, Ryan took the key and unlocked the door. The three of them walked into the room and Troy threw the bags down, practically collapsing on the bed with them. "Jeez, Ry," Troy said, trying to catch his breath. "Did you pack your entire closet in here?"

"Well, I didn't know what kind of weather to expect, so I had to pack for everything," Ryan said like it was the most obvious thing to do. Sometimes, he really was a lot more like his sister than anyone cared to admit.

When Troy and Kaden just laughed at him, Ryan turned and jumped on top of his boyfriend, pinning him to the bed. "So," he started. "Do you want me to lay the smack down on you or would you rather just take a nap before we go see what this place is all about? You know I don't' want to hurt you."

"Did you really just say smack down?" Kaden asked as he came out from exploring the bathroom. "I have to say, you just went down a little in my estimation."

Ryan shot a look at his roommate before turning his attention back to Troy. "I guess I could go for a nap," Troy said while trying, unsuccessfully, to stifle a yawn. "I just need to go to the bathroom first."

While Troy got up, Kaden and Ryan situated themselves on their respective beds, Ryan and Troy taking the one closer to the window, while Kaden took the one near the entrance to the room. They both situated themselves on top of the covers, not really wanting to sleep for too long, just to be able to take a quick power nap.

Troy came back out into the room seconds later. "Ugh," he said. "Ryan, you're on the wrong side of the bed." Ryan just chuckled while heaving a fake, heavy sigh and moved over to the opposite side of the queen-size bed.

"Oh, you two have sides?" Kaden asked, lifting his head from his pillow. "That's so cute. You're just like an old married couple." Troy just threw one of the pillows from his and Ryan's bed over at the other blond, which he took and stuffed under his head. "Fine, see if you get this back," Kaden joked.

Then the three of them settled down on their beds, Troy and Ryan snuggling close together, while Kaden cuddled his pillows.

-----------------------------------------------

Several hours later found the three friends walking down the boardwalk toward the main strip in town. It had gotten colder since they first arrived at the beach, so they had all bundled up. Ryan went a little overboard with a jacket, mittens and a scarf, but Troy thought he looked cute, and at least that would keep him from complaining while they were walking around outside.

Little shops lined the boardwalk, some with interesting knickknacks, others with 'antiques' no one would ever consider buying. There was also a little aquarium that Kaden had talked to the two into checking out.

"Come on," Kaden said as he let his two friends in. "I used to come here with my parents all the time when I was little. We just have to go right over there," he continued, pointing over to a counter where a creepy looking man was sitting, "and we can get the fish chunks to throw to the seals."

"Wait," Ryan said as he came to a halt. "Are we talking real, dead, raw fish? Do I have to actually touch it?"

"You don't have to touch it if you don't want," Troy said, pulling Ryan in the direction Kaden had gone off to. "I'll just hold the fish pieces when Kaden tries to give them to you."

"And while that's very admirable," Ryan began, "you're going to smell like fish. That's just a little bit unattractive and won't help you get laid tonight."

"It's just as well, seeing as how we're sharing a room," Troy said. "Now, come on. Let's humor him and go feed the seals."

Ryan sighed and followed Troy up to the counter where it appeared that Kaden had already purchased a bucket of feed for the loud, smelly creatures that were the main attraction of the little aquarium. Ryan smiled, but politely declined when his roommate offered him some of the fish, but watched as he and Troy threw it to the animals who would fight one another for the attention as well as the fish of everyone who was standing around.

There was a particularly loud seal who was vying for Troy's attention and when he finally threw some food its way, it jumped forward coming closer than what Ryan considered comfortable. The blond jumped back and ran into Troy, causing his boyfriend to toss the fish he was holding in the air.

Ryan noticed just in time and was able to dodge the flying fish, but had absolutely no intention of going anywhere near the tank after the incident. He stood near the far wall until both Troy and Kaden had finished tossing the seals everything they had. Once they were done, Ryan led them as quickly as possible out of the building and into the rapidly cooling night air.

"So, how was it?" Kaden asked, not really paying attention to how Ryan shot a departing glare at the quaint aquarium. "I used to be so scared of those things when I was little, but my parents always forced me to feed them and eventually I got over it."

"Your parents sound like barbarians," Ryan said, looping his arm through Troy's and holding himself closer to his boyfriend's body.

Troy was distracted from his boyfriend's banter by the view of the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean. Having never seen the ocean before, he was unprepared for the stunning visual presented for him. The reds, yellows and oranges of the sunset were reflected off the water's surface creating a brilliant display of light and color.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Ryan whispered into Troy's ear. He then tugged on his boyfriend's arm and led him up to the railing of the boardwalk. Kaden followed, but kept a distance, allowing the two boyfriends to share a moment.

"Maybe tomorrow it will be warmer and we can go out into the water," Troy said, looking away from the sunset and to his boyfriend and waggled his eyebrow. "You said I look good in a swimsuit, remember?"

Ryan smiled. "Yes, but I also said I enjoy certain parts of your anatomy and unless you plan on losing them tomorrow, I'd stay out of the water," Ryan said, then noting Troy's look of confusion he added, "Just because TV shows you that you can always go swimming in the ocean doesn't mean it's true. That water out there is still freezing."

Troy looked a little put out, but Ryan leaned against him. "That doesn't mean we can't go out on the sand and explore. I just don't want you freezing to death."

They continued standing on the boardwalk for a while longer, watching as the sun finished setting, until Kaden made his presence known once again and suggested that they continue their journey to the main strip.

Troy and Ryan both smiled at each other before pulling away from the railing and leaned in for a quick kiss. They were so caught up in each other that they didn't notice the longing glance that Kaden shot their way before they turned to face him and began walking again.

---------------------------------------

Troy, Kaden and Ryan made it to the main strip just as all the street and neon lights turned on. Kaden led them down the street until they came upon a street vendor.

"Oh my gosh, we have to get one of these," Kaden exclaimed as they approached the cart that read 'Pronto Pup' in bold, multi-colored letters. Troy and Ryan shot each other worried glances.

"What exactly is a pronto pup?" Ryan asked, not really that excited about what could possibly be awaiting him.

"It's just another name for a corn dog," Kaden replied, leaving the two boyfriends as he walked up to the cart to place his order.

Ryan turned to Troy and pulled a face. "Don't worry," Troy said. "I'll order one and you can try it if you want. I just don't want him to feel like a third wheel while we're here and it wouldn't hurt you to try a little more."

"There are a lot of things I'm willing to do to make someone feel welcome," Ryan said, poking Troy in the chest. "But we're talking about deep-friend grossness and fishy smelling yuck, Troy, and I draw the line right there."

"Okay, okay," Troy said, laughing as he pulled away from his boyfriend. A few moments later both Troy and Kaden were back standing next to Ryan, pronto pups in hand. Troy had taken a bite and handed it to Ryan who took a hold of it, and with a little coaxing, took a bite.

Surprisingly it wasn't that bad. Ryan took another bite and then handed it back to Troy, then hit him in the arm when the brunette shot him an I-told-you-so look.

The friends continued walking down the strip toward the city center when they came across a block full of arcades. "This is like Las Vegas for the under-10 crowd," Ryan said as they passed an area full of ski ball games and air hockey tables.

"I remember coming to a place like this when I was little," Troy said, dragging Ryan into one of the arcades. "I tried to win these stuffed ninja turtle things, but my parents stopped giving me money after I spent two whole days in the arcade."

"Oh, Troy," Ryan said, patting his boyfriend's shoulder. "I hope you were able to get past that really traumatic experience."

"Yeah," Kaden said. "Besides, no one ever wins anything around here. It's all rigged."

"Sounds to me like someone spent quite a bit of time here when they were younger," Ryan said, casting a knowing glance at his friend. "Don't worry, I'm sure they'll still take your tickets."

Kaden blushed, but laughed. "Watch it, Ry," he said. "I live with you. I've got a ton of ammo on you."

"Don't forget me," Troy said. "I've known him since grade school not to mention I've seen him naked more than even his mother."

"Troy!" Ryan exclaimed as Kaden and Troy high fived. "I can't believe you would sink so low. Even if Kaden wasn't here, I'd be withholding any kind of sex because of that one. And don't forget, I know you just as well, Mr. I'm-scared-of-spiders."

"You said you wouldn't tell anyone," Troy said, his jaw hanging open, a shocked look on his face.

"I lied," Ryan said.

"Before this gets any nastier," Kaden interrupted, "how about we find a place to eat? Whenever my Nana gets grumpy all we have to do is feed her."

"Are you comparing me to your Nana?" Ryan asked.

"No—I wouldn't—I was just," Kaden stuttered, not really wanting to face Ryan's wrath. He knew exactly what kind of ammunition Ryan had on him and he didn't really feel like having it aired out in public.

"How about we just find a nice restaurant," Troy said, grabbing a hold of Ryan's hand.

The three of them walked out of the arcade and walked just a bit further down the street before coming to a typical beach-side restaurant, decked out with traditional sea-going garb and port-hole windows. After giving Ryan ample time to figure out whether or not it met his standards, they all walked in and were seated. Their waiter looked to be somewhere in his early twenties and he was absolutely gorgeous. At least that's the impression Troy got when he noticed his boyfriend giving him the once over.

Troy watched as the waiter returned the glance, causing him to not-so-subtly move his chair closer to Ryan and put his arm around his boyfriend's shoulder, showing anyone who cared to look that the blond was indeed spoken for.

The waiter got the hint, but that didn't keep him from looking over at the table as often as he could, only now Troy noticed that he was keeping tabs on Kaden rather than Ryan, which suited him just fine.

"I think I'm going to get the halibut and steamed vegetables," Ryan said after looking over the menu.

"Wait," Troy said. "Why is it you'll get the fish here, but you basically screamed like a girl back at the aquarium when the fish even got close to you?"

Kaden began snickering and Ryan shot both him and his boyfriend a glare. "What's with this gang up on Ryan theme tonight? I might just have to go hang out with Tyler over there," he finished pointing over to their waiter.

"How did you know his name?" Troy asked, thinking he'd missed something.

"Well, he is wearing a name tag," Ryan said, "and he did introduce himself when he seated us. And I've been passing notes with him ever since we got here. He's kind of cute, don't you think?"

Troy just frowned and Ryan got the chance to finally laugh at getting one on his boyfriend. Ryan just leaned over and placed a kiss on Troy's cheek. "So, what are you going to get?" he asked.

Eventually, the three friends placed their orders and ate a fantastic meal. The conversation was light and generally rotated around the table who they were poking fun at, just like any conversation between good friends.

Their waiter, Tyler, was extra attentive to their table, especially to Kaden, causing the tall blond to blush on more than one occasion. Troy and Ryan kept sending meaningful glances at one another throughout the meal, making sure that Kaden never actually saw them.

After they'd been given their check and were figuring out their payment, Tyler approached their table once more, looking a little nervous. "Hi," he said to the three friends. "Uh, I don't do this normally, but I'm off work and I was wondering if you'd like to go get a drink with me when you're finished."

All eyes turned to Kaden, who was oblivious that he was even being addressed. He looked up and noticed that everyone was looking at him, he looked up to Tyler with a fish-out-of-water look plastered on his face. "Me?" he asked.

"Here," Ryan said, interrupting any response Tyler could have made. "Why don't you take the check and he'll have an answer for you when you get back."

They watched as Tyler took the check and walked away and then Ryan turned back to the table. "I swear, you get hit on more than any other person I know," Ryan said. "It's almost like if there's a gay guy out there you'll find him and he'll ask you out. I just don't get it. We should all be so lucky."

"Hey," Troy said.

"Oh, you know there's no one else for me," Ryan said. "But it would be nice to think that other people would hit on me, too."

"Well, it doesn't really matter," Kaden spoke up. "It's not like I'm going to go out with him anyway. I'm already seeing someone."

"Oh, come on, Kaden," Ryan said. "It's not like he's asking you to go out on the beach and have sex. He just wants to take you out for a drink. You can tell him you're seeing someone, but, seriously, he's gorgeous."

"Ryan's got a point," Troy said. "Just be up front with him. You'll probably have a great time."

"And did I mention that he's gorgeous?" Ryan added.

Kaden laughed at Ryan's persistence. "Fine, fine," he said. "I guess you're right."

Just then, Tyler made his way back to the table. He handed Ryan the check and then looked expectantly at Kaden, who blushed under the scrutiny.

"I'd love to get a drink with you," he said. He was so taken back by the megawatt smile that Tyler flashed in his direction that he forgot to mention he was seeing someone.

"Well," Tyler started, indicating that he was just about to leave. "I'm going to be heading out now, so …" he trailed off, nodding his head toward the door.

"Oh!" Kaden said. "Sure, let's go." He pushed his chair out and set a look over to Ryan, who gave him a discreet thumbs up, and headed out of the restaurant with the attractive waiter.

"Well, now that he's out, whatever will we do with ourselves?" Ryan asked turning back around to face his boyfriend. Troy just smiled widely and pushed his chair out from under the table.

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Troy and Ryan soon found themselves back out on the boardwalk, heading back toward their hotel. The two were walking at a leisurely pace, having nowhere in particular they needed to be and no particular time to get there. They were just enjoying being with each other while taking in a place neither of them had ever been to before.

Eventually, Troy convinced Ryan to walk down to the sand for a late night stroll. They walked down to where the tide met the beach and continued along the hard, wet sand taking in all the sights, smells and noises that came with it. Ryan clung to Troy's arm as it was still abnormally cold for him.

"This is nice, isn't it?" Troy said. "Just the two of us, and look at all of this; it's beautiful." Ryan had to agree with his boyfriend's assessment. Of course, he had been to both the East and West Coasts before so this wasn't exactly new to him, but he loved seeing the look of amazement cross Troy's face when he saw something new.

Instead of saying anything, Ryan just leaned his head on Troy's shoulder and continued walking. The moon, which was viewable through a surprisingly clear sky, was reflecting off the surface of the ocean, and created a glow that filled Ryan with a sense of peace.

They continued walking for a while, before Troy started leading them away from the tide and back up toward the dry sand. They passed some driftwood and Ryan got an idea. "Why don't we sit out here for a little bit? We can sit on that log over there so we don't get sand everywhere."

"I thought you would be getting too cold," Troy said.

"I don't need to worry about the temperature when I've got my own walking, talking electrical blanket with me," he replied, smiling at his boyfriend and dragging him over to the large log. Sometimes, you had to wonder how these pieces of driftwood got so far up the beach, but Ryan wasn't thinking about that right now. He just wanted to sit outside and enjoy this scene with his boyfriend.

"I'm glad you convinced me to stay here for break," Ryan said as the two sat down. He leaned up against Troy, cuddling into his side.

Troy threw his arm around Ryan's shoulder and hugged him close. "I knew you'd have a good time if you just gave it a chance."

"Thanks," Ryan said before leaning up to give Troy a slow kiss. What started out as a kiss of thanks soon turned into a very passionate meeting of lips. Within moments, tongues were wrestling with one another while hands wondered over trim, fit bodies.

Eventually Ryan pulled away, his face flushed. Then he did something Troy had definitely not been expecting. He got up off the log and straddled his boyfriend's lap and dove right back into the kiss.

Troy's arms wrapped around Ryan's back, making sure that he wouldn't slip off. He was so caught up in the kiss that he failed to notice when Ryan's hands dipped below the waist of his jeans. He gasped in realization when he felt Ryan's cool hand grip his heated manhood.

He pulled back slightly from the kiss, still breathing heavily, but Ryan didn't loosen his grip. "Do you think we should be doing this out here?" he asked.

"If anyone passes by, they'll just think we're making out," Ryan said huskily. "I'm very discreet when I want to be." And with that he made a slow motion with his hand that was currently deep in Troy's pants. Troy groaned and leaned his head forward.

Ryan nudged him with his nose so that he leaned back and then smiled when Troy looked at him again. "This is going to be a great spring break," he said before leaning back in to recapture Troy's lips in a bruising kiss.

**A/N: Well, this was a little bit of fluff before we jump head-first back into drama-land. I hope you enjoyed taking a little break with Ryan, Troy and Kaden. I think I like these chapters the best because it's just a little bit of fun. You know the drama and the problems are there, but it's nice to get away from everything for a little bit. We're coming down to the wire now. There are only five more chapters left and I don't know what I'm going to do once this is all finished. I'll probably think of something. Anyway, thank you again for all the kind and constructive reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Please read and review!**

**SillyPippy:** I think Ryan agrees with you about Jeff. We'll see what happens with them in the future.

**fieryflame:** I'm sorry there was so much drama going on for you. I'm glad you realized what's best for you, though. And Kaden may look, but he's far too upstanding to actually touch. We'll just have to wait and see what's in store for the two of them. And our children would have great hair AND stunning personalities. A great combo!

**uberpsi:** Nope, no hibernation. This is pretty much the only thing that keeps me sane during my whirlwind experience at school. I hope you enjoy this little interlude from the drama.

**bobrabbit100:** I'm glad you like the last chapter and I sent you that message about the timeline … and yeah, I goofed a little, but not that much. It should be sometime in the first two weeks of March, not February. And I don't want to give too much away … but there's going to be a little bit more than a break up coming on.

**ellbtvsvm:** Glad to see you've stocked up on the popcorn. And you'll find out what happens with the Chi Delt boys in the next few chapters.

**zacfan:** I'm glad you're enjoying all of this. I hope you enjoy this, too!

**OC4life:** I'm flattered that I'm your inspirational writer of the moment. And yeah … Jeff's being kind of lame right now, but he's dealing with a lot of confliction feelings and ideas. Still … Kaden deserves better, right?

**BitterGrin:** I have a lot of ideas floating around in my head right now for after this story, it just depends on whether or not I can pin something down enough to flesh it all out. I'm glad you're enjoying this story!

**Phoenix II:** Sorry to throw your prediction off. Believe it or not, I've had this interlude planned for quite a while. But … your predictions weren't too far off for the next chapter … grins

**LucasLover:** Here's even more fluff! I guess I wanted to build a cushion of fluff before I ripped it away from under your feet in the next few chapters. Oooooh, ominous foreboding.

**WriterOnWheels:** I think this is three chapters in about a week. Probably the most productive I've been in a long time! I hope I don't disappoint.


	21. Chapter 21

Kaden followed Jeff as he walked up the sidewalk leading up to the Chi Delta house. He didn't know why he was even going. He hated it, and every time he went over there, it just reaffirmed how much he did not like any of the guys in that house.

It had been over two weeks since he, Troy and Ryan had returned from their little vacation to the beach, and Kaden couldn't help but wish he was still there. He went out with Tyler and had a great time. They went to a few bars, met some of Tyler's friends and then went out to a bonfire on the beach. It was probably the most fun he'd had in a long time, not to mention he probably gave Ryan and Troy some alone time themselves.

Tyler was quite the charmer, too. He was so thoughtful and sweet. He'd introduced Kaden to all of his friends without any hesitation, he'd offered Kaden his jacket when he noticed the blond was cold and he always tried to include Kaden in the conversation.

But Kaden had been good. He'd resisted any kind of urge to do anything that could even be remotely construed as "cheating." Even when Tyler had made to give him a hug goodbye, Kaden had been able to dodge the chaste kiss the brunette had been aiming for his cheek. Anyone would want Kaden as his boyfriend.

It just didn't seem like Jeff realized that so much. He still refused to so much as acknowledge his relationship with Kaden whenever they were around anyone else other than Troy and Ryan. And then that was taken to an extreme whenever he was around his fraternity brothers. Kaden didn't even know why he bothered coming to Jeff's house with him; he was probably in for an hour or more of being ignored.

"Are we going to be here for very long?" Kaden asked as the two reached the door to the house.

Jeff turned around and smiled at Kaden lightly, apparently oblivious to his boyfriend's discomfort. "I don't know," he said. "We probably won't be too long. I don't really have anything important to do."

Kaden rolled his eyes as Jeff turned back around to unlock the door. 'If you don't have anything to do, why are we here?' he thought to himself, following his boyfriend through the threshold.

The two walked through the entryway and down to the stairway leading toward the basement, where they were sure to run into some of the guys who were skiving off classes for the day.

They walked into the basement, seeing several guys standing around the pool table. A majority of them, however, were seated on a couch near a big screen television all engrossed in one of the latest and greatest video games.

"Joy," Kaden muttered to himself at seeing how he would be spending the next hour. Jeff turned his head and frowned confusedly, having heard Kaden say something, but the blond just shook his head, waving off his boyfriend.

Jeff walked up to the couch and said hello to his fraternity brothers and Kaden soon stood right next to him. They stood, watching the game progressing on the screen for some time. Kaden wasn't really paying much attention to anything going on around him; he was just trying to pass the time as quickly as he could. And that meant he was thinking back to his spring break adventure.

The thought of him hanging out with Troy, Ryan and Tyler for the whole week brought a smile to his face. He didn't have to worry about anything or anybody ruining his good mood during that week away from school. The only down side to it was that Jeff had not been there to have fun with them.

Kaden was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear as one of the Chi Delts, having noticed his far away look and goofy smile, started making comments to him.

"What's with that doofy look on his face?" the guy asked. That caused Jeff to look over at his boyfriend and elbow him softly in the side, bringing Kaden out of his reverie.

"Huh?" Kaden asked, looking around the room. He looked toward the couch and saw several of the guys snickering to themselves, even as they continued playing their game. Jeff shot a look to Kaden urging him to either pay more attention or that he was embarrassing him, Kaden couldn't really tell.

They all went back to staring at the television screen, blowing things up and whatnot, until one of the guys was killed for good, or at least, that's what Kaden gathered from the way he threw his controller on the floor.

The guy in question, sent a nasty look at the blond, as if blaming him for his untimely on-screen death. "Why is he always standing so close to you," the guy said, noting Kaden's positioning at Jeff's side. "He's like that whenever you two come over."

"Yeah," another guy from the couch piped in, stealing a quick glance away from the TV screen. "You'd think he was trying to get in your pants or something, Little Strong."

At that, Jeff turned to look at Kaden, a somewhat frightened gleam in his eyes. He noted that Kaden was indeed standing closer to him than any other guy was to anyone else in the room and then gave Kaden a shove to widen the gap between their two bodies.

Kaden hadn't been expecting that and shot Jeff a hurt look. He never really thought Jeff would just admit that they were dating to anyone in the house, but he never expected to be rejected in such an open and public way like he just had.

"Oh, look," one of the guys from the couch said, seeing the expression on Kaden's face. "Seems like you hurt the poor fag's feelings."

Kaden's mouth opened in an awkward gape, his brows furrowing. He hadn't expected his visit to the Chi Delt house to be pleasant, but he sure as hell wasn't expecting anything like this. The guys were being nastier than usual and Jeff wasn't doing anything about it. In fact, he seemed to be adding to it what with his shove and all. Kaden couldn't really tell if he wanted to stick around to see what would happen next, but his feet were still grounded to the floor.

Jeff then turned his head again to look at Kaden. He made a face that was sure to convey the message that Kaden need to cut out whatever he was doing as it was attracting unnecessary attention to them.

"Someone should let him know he's come to the wrong place if he's looking for some action," another one of the guys said. They all started laughing at that, including Jeff.

"Seems to me that Little Strong just keeps the guy around because it means he knows he could get it from whoever he wants, man or woman," another one said.

After that, everyone on the couch turned to look expectantly at Jeff, as if he was supposed to either confirm or deny their accusations. Jeff looked back at them, not really knowing what to say or how to respond. He looked back at Kaden and then back to his brothers on the couch. It appeared as though he was going to bolt from the room, when all of a sudden he squared his shoulders and sent a devious smirk over his shoulder toward Kaden, which didn't leave the blond with a good feeling at all.

"Well," Jeff said to his friends, his voice sounding cold, nothing like what Kaden was used to, "Why else would I keep him around? It's not like he's stimulating company or anything." Then he turned to look at Kaden again. "Silly, little faggot."

Kaden stood there in shock, trying not to believe he'd just stood there and been insulted like that by his boyfriend. He was trying to wrap his brain around it when the laughing coming from the couch brought him back to the moment.

He looked over at Jeff but found no sympathy in his gaze. He felt tears begin to prick the side of his eyes and took in a deep shuddering breath before quickly turning on his heal and running straight out of the basement and then out of the house. He didn't even take a look back, not wanting to see any of the sneering faces laughing at him. But most of all he didn't want to see the look on Jeff's face. He didn't want to see Jeff at all. What he needed was to get away, and get away fast.

But he needed to talk to someone. So he pulled out his cell phone and dialed the only number he could think of.

---------------------------------------------

Ryan flipped through another page of his intro to fiction writing textbook, but was unable to really focus on what he was seeing. The reason for that being Troy who was currently running his hands up and down Ryan's back underneath his shirt.

The two were sitting on Ryan's bed. They were supposed to be studying for their upcoming tests, but with Troy's wandering all over his boyfriend's body, not much work was being accomplished. Ryan had tried his best to keep his mind off Troy's fingers, but he just could not keep his attention focused on his study material. Dialogue tags be damned, he wanted some of Troy.

"You do know that we eventually have to pass these classes, don't you?" Ryan asked as he closed his book and turned around to face Troy who was basically spooning against the blond's back.

"Well," Troy began, "think about it my way, the longer I make you stay in college, the longer I have to do things like this with you." He finished by wrapping his arms around the smaller boy and pulling him closer.

"Yes," Ryan said, speaking slowly as he ran his hands up and down Troy's firm arms, "but the sooner I graduate, the sooner I won't be forced to choose between you and homework."

Troy furrowed his brow in thought for a moment before releasing his boyfriend and forcing him to turn away and back toward his book. "What are you waiting for," he said. "Get to studying. Waste not want not. A penny saved is a penny earned."

Ryan just laughed and turned back to facing Troy. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I don't know," Troy replied. "Those are just things that sound like they'd motivate someone to take something seriously, and now I need you to take your studies seriously"

"And what about you?" Ryan asked. "It won't do me much good if I'm all graduated and you're not. I might just have to find someone to keep me company during the long days that you'll be stuck in class."

"You wouldn't," Troy said, running his hands down Ryan's side and behind his thighs to rest on the underside of his boyfriend's behind.

"You have no idea what I would and wouldn't do," Ryan said as he wriggled himself closer to his boyfriend and leaned up to place a sweet kiss on his lips before turning back around and opening up his book.

The two went back to studying. At least, Ryan did. Troy was still too preoccupied with watching his boyfriend's prone form. He was never going to get anything done at this rate and yet he still could not take his eyes away from the blond beauty lying next to him.

Everything had been going great for the couple ever since they returned from their spring break trip. They were sickeningly sweet with each other. Leslie refused to be around both of them when they were together; she said it gave her a headache.

Meg couldn't have been happier for the two of them. It had been quite a while since all things had been going well for all of them, and even though Ryan still wasn't sold on Jeff and Kaden's relationship, he had to admit that things were going reasonably well for the two of them. Troy just hoped the two of them would come to terms with their relationship and Jeff wouldn't keep holding Kaden at arms length whenever they were in public.

All thoughts of other people escaped him, however, as soon as he felt Ryan's behind pressing into his crotch. Troy responded with a gentle thrust.

"You're distracting me again," Ryan said in a singsong voice.

"You're the one who started it," Troy replied in an equally saccharine voice.

This would have continued and progressed on to something not suitable for children, but it was quickly put to a stop by Ryan's cell phone.

"Dammit, Ry," Troy said, letting go of his boyfriend and allowing him to reach for the offending object. "That thing always finds a way to ruin a perfect moment."

Ryan shot his boyfriend a look before checking the caller ID and flipping his phone open. "Hey, Kaden. What's up?" he asked.

Troy asked as his boyfriend's brows furrowed and his expression changed from beaming smile to deep frown. He didn't know what caused the sudden change, but he was sure to find out in the following moments.

"Wait," Ryan said, pulling away from Troy and sitting upright on his bed. "Slow down, Kaden," he continued. "Okay … just wait there. I'll come get you."

With that, Ryan flipped his phone closed and moved to get off the bed. Troy, still having no idea what was going on, grabbed Ryan's body and held him still. "What's going on?" Troy asked.

"I don't know," Ryan said, struggling against Troy's hold. "I couldn't get anything out of him. It was almost like he was hyperventilating or something. I'm going to go out and get him, see if I can bring him back or something."

Ryan's voice was hitting a high pitch, by the end of his statement. Troy could tell he was worried for his friend and let go, allowing Ryan to get off the bed and run around the room gathering his things so he could go outside. He then started getting off the bed as well, moving to grab his shoes.

"What are you doing?" Ryan asked.

"I'm going with you," Troy said. "If Kaden's really in trouble, I'm not going to let you go out there by yourself. You said yourself that you don't even know what's wrong with him."

"No," Ryan said as he threw his jacket over his shoulder.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Troy asked.

"I mean, I don't know if Kaden is going to wait for me out there or not, and if he comes back here before I get to him, I want you to be here so you can look after him until I get back," Ryan said, panic still lacing his voice.

"But—" Troy started.

"Look," Ryan interrupted him. "Please, just do this for me. I need to go find Kaden. I've never heard him like this before. Please just stay here. If I need you, I'll call you."

Troy didn't look pleased, but he stopped moving. Ryan took that to mean that he would be staying put until he heard anything else from him. Ryan then walked over to where Troy was still sitting and leaned over to place a chaste kiss on his lips. "I love you," he said. And with that, he was out of the room.

-------------------------------------------

'Shit! Shit! Shit!' was the only thing running through Jeff's mind as he left the Chi Delta house. It had been a little over 15 minutes since Kaden had run out and Jeff knew he had done wrong.

As soon as he exited the old brick house, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Kaden's number. It rang and rang and then went to voicemail. Kaden's usually cheery voice greeted him and Jeff couldn't help but wish that the recording was really Jeff and that the whole ordeal was just an awful, awful dream.

Obviously, however, it was not and Jeff needed to figure out how the hell he was going to make everything right. He was sure, though, that he would have more trouble proving himself to Ryan than he would to anyone else. It seemed that Ryan never really trusted him that much, and now it was beginning to dawn on him why exactly that was the case.

Ryan was Kaden's friend. He was always looking out for the tall blond and apparently he had seen something he didn't quite like in Jeff, which, he had to admit, he was beginning to see himself.

He tried dialing Kaden's number again and when it went to voicemail, yet again, he scrolled through his phonebook until he came to the only other person he could talk to when it came to matters concerning boyfriend.

Troy picked up on the third ring. "Hello?" he asked.

"Troy," Jeff said, exasperatedly. "Have you seen Kaden at all?"

"Ryan just took off looking for him," Troy said into the phone. "He said Kaden sounded near hysterics. What the hell is going on?"

Jeff sighed and lowered his head. "We were at my house and, you know how the guys are with him, and we got into a disagreement," Jeff said, bending the truth. He didn't really want everyone to know what a monumental ass he had been. "He ran out and I've been trying to get a hold of him, but he won't answer his phone."

"Well," Troy said. "I'm waiting in his room right now. Ryan said he'd call me when he found out what was going on. You can come back here and wait with me to see if Kaden gets here before Ryan finds him."

Jeff shuddered at the thought. He really didn't want Ryan finding Kaden at all. He didn't even want to think about the screaming match he'd be in for if Ryan actually found out what he'd done. But it looked as though going back to the dorm room was going to be his best option. Maybe he'd be able to get to Kaden before Ryan and then he'd be able to apologize and keep him from telling anyone about what had happened.

"I guess that's the best thing," he said into the phone. "I'll be there in a few minutes. Will you come down to let me in?"

"Sure," Troy said. "I'll see you in a few."

Jeff hung up and put his phone back into his pocket. He didn't know what he was going to do, but he did know that he was going to have to think of something quickly. Then again, maybe he was just thinking the worst of the whole situation. Maybe it would all just blow over and nothing would come of it.

That's when he realized he was being more than just a bit delusional. He shook his head and began jogging to Kaden's dorm while also keeping his eyes peeled for his boyfriend. If he could really even call him that anymore.

-------------------------------------------------------

Ryan had been walking quickly through campus keeping his eyes peeled for his friend. He wanted to find Kaden soon as it was getting dark, and he didn't want to battle the dark as well as his raging emotions right now.

He knew Jeff was behind all of this. No one could get a reaction out of Kaden like Jeff could, and in Ryan's mind, something this bad could only have been caused by the confused brunette. If he ran into Jeff before he found Kaden he would … well, he didn't so much know what he would do … but it wouldn't be pretty.

He walked through a clearing leading into the quad and looked around. Not seeing anything right away, he continued walking, sweeping his head from side to side until he spotted a mop of blond hair over by one of the benches lining a building. He picked up the pace and began jogging over to where the person was sitting. As he got closer, he could tell that it was definitely Kaden, and that Kaden was definitely upset. He came to a swift walk as he came up to the bench.

"Kaden?" Ryan asked as he approached the bench.

At hearing his name called, Kaden turned his tear-stained face toward his friend and gave a watery half-smile to his friend, which soon turned into another round of sobs. Ryan walked up and sat down next to Kaden, putting his arm around his roommate's shoulder.

"Hey, hey," Ryan said. "It's okay." With that, Kaden turned and buried his head in Ryan's chest.

Ryan let him cry for several more moments before the sobs began to subside. When he felt that Kaden would be able to speak, he pulled gently away from his roommate and ducked his head to get a look a the other blond's face. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked.

Kaden looked back up, his expression one of a broken man. "Jeff," he croaked out. Ryan's expression darkened at that and his grip around his friend's shoulder tightened.

"What did he do?" Ryan asked, now certain he was going to put Jeff in his place the next time they saw each other.

"He—he," Kaden stuttered, "we were over at his fraternity house and I don't know what was going on but—but," he trailed off again.

"You know you hate going over there," Ryan said. "I don't know why you always let him talk you into going with him. But that's beside the point. You need to tell me what happened so I can help."

Kaden looked back up at Ryan's face and continued. "Some of the guys started making fun of me and then Jeff pushed me away. The next thing I knew, they were saying Jeff just kept me around because I made him feel good about himself. Then—then Jeff, he—he called me a faggot."

Ryan gasped at that. "He didn't."

Kaden could only shake his head sadly. "He said the only reason he kept me around was because it meant he could get some action from whoever he wanted. Then he called me a silly little faggot."

"Oh, you just wait until I see him," Ryan said darkly. "I'm going to tear him a new one and then shove my foot up it." He was cut off when he felt a hand on his knee. He looked over to Kaden who was smiling at him.

"You don't have to worry about that," Kaden said. "I don't need to put up with this anymore, and I'm not going to. I might have if it had happened before break, but after that time we spent at the coast and with those people, I know I deserve better."

"You always have," Ryan said.

"Yes," Kaden agreed. "I guess I just didn't realize it. But I don't want to spend anymore time with someone I always have to be on edge with. I don't want to have to worry about whether or not he's going to acknowledge me when we're around other people or if he's going to say something offensive to me just because he needs to keep up his reputation in front of his friends."

"Well," Ryan sighed. "I'm glad to hear you saying that, but don't you think we should be getting out of here. I don't really feel like hashing everything out on a park bench, do you?"

Kaden smiled, a real smile. "No, you're right. We should get going."

"Good," Ryan said, getting up from the bench and holding his hand out to his friend. "Troy's back at the room waiting for us. I made him stay there just in case you made your way back before I found you."

"Well you just thought of everything, didn't you?" Kaden asked, grabbing Ryan's hand and getting up from the bench.

"It's what I do," Ryan said, smiling. "Now, let's hurry up and get back. I got a new box of those tomato-basil Wheat Thins we can dig into."

The two roommates began walking away, elbows linked. Kaden felt much better and Ryan was just glad that they had gotten things taken care of. The only thing that stood in the way now was Jeff and the confrontation they were all sure to have.

It was now dark enough outside that the street lamps had turned on as the two continued walking toward their dorm. A slight noise caught their attention in front of them, though they couldn't really make out where it was coming from and therefore decided to ignore it and continue walking. That is, until they were called out.

"Hey fags," a vaguely familiar voice yelled across the quad. "What are you two doing out here all by yourselves?"

Both Ryan and Kaden looked to where the voice was coming from, a feeling of dread welling up in the pits of their stomachs.

**A/N: Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update. It's been a hectic few weeks with the semester coming to the end and I flew out to the west coast and back. So … yeah. It should not take me nearly as long to update the next time. I'm planning on being able to update once a week until the story is finished, which means the story should be complete before the end of the year. Exciting? I hope so. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Things will continue to get very interesting. So … read and review!**

**Shadow Cat17:** I totally understand about school taking top priority. That's why it took me so long to update. And I think Kaden is beginning to realize exactly that he deserves better than what he's been getting.

**hsmloverer:** I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Here's an update to satisfy you addiction. I hope you enjoy it.

**Charlz:** I'm glad you liked the ending of the last chapter. I hope you like this one, too.

**Krystalviera:** That's quite an interesting plot line you have going there. I have a somewhat different way to tie up this story … I hope you like it anyway. And I think it's safe to say that things are going to be just fine between Troy and Ryan.

**WriterOnWheels:** Haha … all good things come to an end, right? And you can blame me all you want for getting you hooked on this. I'm glad my story was good enough for you.

**Dodecahedron:** I'm glad you liked the non-drama. I hope you enjoy the drama just as much.

**uberpsi:** Ah! I'm so sorry I haven't updated before now! I hope you haven't gone insane. Hmm. And I haven't really given much thought to who I would cast as the characters, but maybe I'll put something together for the last chapter. It could be a lot of fun.

**just-nikki:** Haha, I'm glad you loved it. I hope you love this one, too.

**OC4life: **I don't exactly know what my plans are for after this story is finished. I have some ideas both continuing this story, but also other ideas that have nothing to do with it. We'll see what happens.

**BluePuppeta.JAA:** I'm always trying to keep you on your toes. I hope this sheds a little more light onto what was actually going on with Kaden in the last chapter.

**ellbtvsvm:** I hope you're not too upset, but here is an update and a promise to not keep you waiting so long for the next chapter. I hope you enjoy this!

**EnvoyOfWater:** Kaden didn't do anything he'd regret … but Jeff sure did.

**bobrabbit100:** Hmm … you're catching on. Maybe Jeff and Kaden aren't meant for each other. I like to think that Kaden's innocence is what draws other people to him and that's why every boy in creation tends to go after him. It's also fun writing it that way. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**TragedyInTheMaking:** I don't think there's anything to worry about with Troy and Ryan, and I don't think Kaden is anywhere near as stupid as it would take a person to be to mess with them both. I hope you enjoyed this chapter … the drama is here!

**fieryflame:** Only four more chapters left after this one ... I hope you enjoy. And I think Kaden is adorable, too. I picture him as a kitten or something, you know? He'd look so cute playing with a ball of yarn.

**Phoenix II:** How was that for Jaden interaction? I hope you enjoy this chapter even though it was definitely not one of the most upbeat.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait! And just a quick warning, there is some violence in this chapter. Enjoy!**

There was a knock at the door and Troy jumped off the bed to answer, hoping it was Ryan, but knowing it was more than likely to be Jeff. He gave a weak smile as he opened the door and came face to face with his roommate. He moved to the side in order to let him in, but stuck his head out into the hallway just in case Ryan or Kaden was behind him before he shut the door.

The two walked into the room and sat on their respective boyfriend's bed. Troy leaned back until he was lying across the bed, with his feet still planted on the floor. He exhaled deeply as he ran his hands through his hair. He didn't have a good feeling about any of this and he didn't know why. He barely knew what was going on, except that Kaden was upset, Jeff was upset and Ryan was out trying to find his roommate.

He tilted his head to the side and looked across the room at his friend. He didn't look much better than Troy. Jeff was pale, his hands were shaking and he kept tapping his foot on the linoleum floor in what Troy could only assume was a nervous tick.

What the hell had happened to turn a nice relaxing evening with his boyfriend into this waiting game? He hated the waiting game. Even more than he hated Hungry, Hungry Hippos. And he _really_ hated that game. But he hated the silence more than anything. So, he sat up and looked over at Jeff.

"So," he began, not really knowing what to ask, "have you heard anything from Kaden since you called me?"

Jeff shook his head. He looked almost near tears. There had to be more to this situation than a simple argument. It was the only thing running through Troy's mind right now. "So," he started again. "What exactly did you two argue about that made Kaden run out and then call Ryan?"

"It was …" Jeff began, but then trailed off.

"It was what?" Troy pressed when his roommate still refused to finish his statement.

Then Jeff looked up and Troy noticed the tears running down his face. He looked absolutely devastated. 'Oh no,' Troy thought. This couldn't be good at all. Jeff normally didn't show many emotions at all, regarding anything, especially not other boys or his relationships with them. The fact that he was sitting in Kaden and Ryan's room, crying on his boyfriend's bed couldn't lead to any discussion Troy could think of wanting to have.

"I did something really bad," Jeff said, wiping the tears off his face.

"It couldn't be that bad, man," Troy said. When Jeff remained silent, Troy got up off Ryan's bed and went over to sit next to his roommate. "Come on," he said as he sat down, "you have to tell me everything so that I can help Ryan get Kaden back here quickly."

"I—I said something really bad to Kaden," Jeff started. "We were over at the house and I was with the guys and I brought Kaden with me."

"Why do you always take him over there?" Troy asked. "You know he doesn't like it there, and after what happened when we all went over there, I can't imagine they like him too much either."

"I don't know man, I just thought—I don't know," he finished lamely. "The guys started in on him and I couldn't do anything. But then they said something else and I did something really stupid."

When he didn't follow that up, Troy looked at him expectantly and asked, "What did you do?"

"I'm not going to come off good in this," Jeff said, stalling for time.

"I really don't care right now," Troy said, getting annoyed with his roommate's constant delaying contacts. "Tell me what happened."

Jeff looked at Troy, who was now getting upset, and he knew the only way to lessen his anger was to tell him right away. Kind of like pulling off a Band-Aid, and so he went for it. "I said that the only reason I kept him around was to show that I could get anyone I wanted, no matter what their sex."

Troy just sat there in shock over what had just been revealed to him. He had expected a whole lot of things—he expected something like involving the Chi Delts, but he never thought it would have gone that far. He could only imagine how Ryan would feel if he had dome something like that. He knew he would never have to think about that because he would never make Ryan feel that way. He would never do something like that to his boyfriend.

At that moment, a cold chill ran down Troy's spine as anger welled up inside him. He couldn't sit next to Jeff anymore. He was disgusted. He couldn't imagine how anyone could treat someone like that, especially someone they claimed to love, or even if they didn't love each other, felt strongly enough to have sex with one another and claim to be boyfriends while in a room by themselves.

He needed to get up. He needed to get away from his friend. He needed to … punch something. He didn't know what he was thinking, all he knew was that he couldn't be sitting right next to Jeff when all he wanted to do was throttle him.

Troy got up and began pacing around the room, running his hands through his hair frustratedly. "I can't believe you'd do something like that," he said, stopping in front of his roommate.

"I—I don't know what I was thinking," Jeff said.

"Obviously," Troy said. "Kaden loves you. He really, truly loves you," Troy said, leaning down so that he was eye-to-eye with the other brunette. "How could you do that to him?"

"I don't know," Jeff replied.

"You don't know?" Troy asked. "What do you mean you don't know!? How could you do something like that and all you have to say in your defense is that you don't know?"

"I don't know!" Jeff yelled as he jumped off the bed, pushing Troy back. "I don't know, okay? I just don't know!"

"Well that's not good enough!" Troy yelled back, taking a few steps closer to his roommate. Troy couldn't remember ever feeling this angry. His hands were shaking and he was sure a vein was protruding from his forehead. "You know what?" he began again. "It doesn't matter what you have to say because there is no justification for you doing that. To anyone, but especially not to him."

"I know," Jeff said, the anger he felt just a few moments ago seemingly leaving his body in a single breath. "I really fucked up."

"Yeah," Troy agreed. "You really did. And I don't know if you should be here."

"What?" Jeff asked, jerking his head back to gaze at Troy.

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to be here when Kaden and Ryan get back." Troy said. "Think about it. Kaden is really upset. And once Ryan knows what happened, there is no way he's going to let you stay here."

"Yeah, well, he never liked me anyway," Jeff said bitterly, looking down at the floor.

"Well," Troy started. "It's not like you gave him much reason to. Kaden and Ryan tell each other everything. He knows every little thing you've done to ever make Kaden upset and now it looks like you have gone too far."

"But he forgave you when you were acting like a dick," Jeff said, trying to defend himself. "Why can he forgive you, but not me?"

"Okay," Troy said, getting more and more pissed as the conversation went on. It was ridiculous really. "This conversation is over. And it's not about me and Ryan, and it's definitely not about you and Ryan. It's about you and what you did to Kaden.

"And I really think you need to leave now before I do something I don't want to do," Troy finished, looking away from his roommate. He didn't know what the hell was going on here anymore. He didn't think he could even look at Jeff anymore and he couldn't expect Kaden to do so either. Kicking him out was obviously the best option.

When Jeff didn't make a motion to leave the room, Troy looked back up at his pseudo-friend and set his face to a stony look, letting no emotions out. "You really need to leave. And if you don't go, I will make you."

That threat seemed to snap something in Jeff and he began fidgeting. He looked at the bed on which he was just sitting as if was going to sit back down and wait in protest. Then he glanced at the door and back at Troy's face. The look there gave him pause, but the words that came out of Troy's mouth next made the idea of any possible rebellion die a quick and painless death. And it wasn't even the words he said, it was the icy way he used to say them.

"Out. Now," Troy said, his tone brokered no objection and Jeff found himself lowering his gaze and walking slowly out the door. When he stepped out in the hall and heard the click of the door behind him, the severity of the situation finally began to really sink in.

He hadn't just fucked up things with him and Kaden, but it appeared he'd messed up his relationship with Troy and Ryan as well. And he had absolutely no idea how he was going to make things up between any of them.

"Shit," he said softly. It was really the only thing he could think of at the moment.

-------------------------------------------

Ryan and Kaden stood still as the figures who had just shouted at them made their way closer to where the two had been seated. Their heads were telling them to move, to get the hell out of there, but apparently their feet were not listening.

It was like all those times in the horror movies where they watched as the unsuspecting person stand still as the crazed murderer came nearer all the while brandishing an unseemly weapon. You always yell at the idiots as they just stand there begging to be murdered. Well, this put a whole new spin on it, and Ryan promised himself that he would never yell at the television set ever again for something like that.

As the group of men walked into the light, Ryan noticed they were several of the members from Chi Delta. 'Typical,' Ryan thought to himself. He continued looking on and then came to the realization that the motley crew was mostly composed of the guys who had been in the house that day he had the confrontation with that one jackass. He also noticed that not one of them was walking in a straight line and that they seemed to constantly be tripping over one another or their own two feet.

"What should we do?" Kaden asked in a whisper, leaning over toward Ryan. His eyes were wide and his hands were beginning to shake, but he stood still next to Ryan, apparently waiting for his friend to make the first move.

Ryan turned his head to look at Kaden and noticed his friend's shaking hands and grabbed one of them to show whatever support he could before turning back to see the slow moving group coming closer and closer.

There were probably a million different times the two of them could have made a break for it, and Ryan knew they should have just up and left, but something inside him was just begging to have at someone. He didn't know if it was all the built up frustration over everything he had experienced regarding the Chi Delts or if he just wanted the chance to get into an argument and blow off some steam regarding the whole Jeff/Kaden situation. Maybe he just wanted to punch someone. Whatever it was, it was preventing him from just getting the hell out of there and going back to his dorm room, to Troy.

"Oh look," one of the guys in the group leered. "They're holding hands! What a couple of fags."

Ryan's eyes steeled over at that last comment and his posture straightened, readying himself for an argument at least, a fight at worst. Kaden noticed this and his eyes darted between Ryan and the group that was now nearly right next to them. He was worried about what might happen, but he didn't back away, even though he didn't really understand why they weren't running for the hills.

"Hey," the apparent ringleader of the group said as they came to stop right in front of Ryan and Kaden. "It's that fag that's always hanging around Little Strong at the house. Looks like he finally found someone who actually wanted to be around him."

The guy's gaze then turned to Ryan, sizing the blond up. He showed no recognition until his eyes lingered on Ryan's face. Then a sneer formed on his face. "And it looks like it's that other fag who was at the house the other day."

"I told you the other day," Ryan said, interrupting the chatter that had started up among the group, "I don't like being called that. I didn't when I was at your house and I still don't right now. So why don't you just crawl back to the bar you came from and kill some more brain cells, although I'm not sure you have many left to kill."

The guy took a menacing step forward away from the rest of the group, and Ryan took the opportunity to assess his opponent. He was slightly taller than either he or Kaden and a bit bulkier, but still Ryan was confident that if it came to blows, he could take the other guy. The problem came with the fact that there were about six of them and only he and Kaden.

The numbers were not on their side, and Kaden was definitely more a lover than a fighter, but even that didn't make Ryan back down.

"You're a real smart ass, you know that?" the guy said to Ryan. "Someone ought to teach you a lesson about keeping your mouth shut when no one wants to hear what you have to say."

"Well, I'm sure you're just the person to teach me," Ryan replied sarcastically. "Although I'm not sure I'd trust you with teaching a dog to sit down. Maybe the other way around. You could probably learn a few things from a mangy mutt."

Then the guy stepped forward, and before Ryan could put up his hands to block him, he shoved Ryan back. Ryan stumbled over Kaden, who was standing behind him and landed on the ground. The group of guys burst out laughing, but Ryan got up quickly and was soon standing nose to nose with his antagonizer.

They stood still for a moment before a grin spread across the guy's face and he let out a hearty, beer smelling bark of laughter. "The fag thinks he's going to fight me, guys," he said, turning slightly to face the group of guys still standing behind him. "He thinks he's a big tough fag who's going to fight the big, bad frat dick."

The other guys started laughing along with him and Kaden took the opportunity to lean in and whisper to Ryan. "Don't you think we should get out of here?" he asked. "I don't think it's such a good idea for you antagonize him."

"Well—" Ryan started but was cut off by the ringleader again.

"You do speak!" he said, while looking at Kaden. "You never say anything when you're over at the house, but I always figured you were just gagging so hard for Jeff that you pretended his cock was in your throat."

"That's enough!" Ryan yelled, shoving the guy away from them. He looked back over at Kaden and saw that tears were springing to his friend's eyes. "We don't have to listen to this. We're out of here."

He turned to grab his friend's hand and lead him out of the quad, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He began to turn around to yell at the ringleader again, but was stopped by the enormous pain that spread across his cheek as he was punched in the face. He didn't even see the fist as it flew toward his face. He reeled back, stumbling a bit, but was caught by someone he assumed was Kaden.

His vision swam as he tried to stand upright on his own, but the pain in his face was keeping him from really focusing on what was going around him. He heard yelling, and he felt more pain erupt in his stomach and then again on his face.

He couldn't fight off anything and the pain wouldn't stop. He didn't know how to stop it. He didn't really understand what was going on anymore. He just hoped Kaden was okay.

------------------------------------------------

Jordan was all bundled up and walking down the sidewalk leading away from the residence halls. He had just picked up a pint of Ben & Jerry's and was in the middle of what he thought was a pretty good pity party.

He didn't get it. He thought college would be the place where he would finally be able to find someone. Everyone had already paired off in high school, and he had to admit that the high school environment was not exactly the most accepting of homosexual relationships. College was supposed to be a place where he could be open about who he was and finally find someone who wanted to be with him. Unfortunately, he apparently missed the memo regarding the boyfriend symposium that was held in his absence.

There had been Ryan, but he was in a committed relationship and had made as much clear during orientation. Then there had been his blond friend. He was a real cutie and also in a relationship. Why was he always drawn to people who were either straight or in a relationship?

After running into the two of them at the bar that one evening, he kept in contact and hung out with them and their boyfriends several times, but he was always the fifth wheel. That was two wheels worse than being a third wheel. And while pigging out on ice cream was a step in the right direction, it just wasn't the same as holding the hand of someone you love, and who loves you, while walking down the street.

Jordan continued walking, not really paying much attention to what was going on around him, more captivated by his own thoughts of loneliness. He was coming up to the student union building and decided to cut across the diagonal walkway through the quad. He entered the open area and dug his spoon into the pint of ice cream, getting a big scoop full.

He had just brought the spoon up to his mouth when he looked up and around the quad. He spotted a group of guys out of the corner of his eye. It looked like they were all huddled around something, and at first, he didn't give it much thought, but the jeers he heard coming from the group gave him pause.

He stopped walking and gave a closer look to the group. Every now and then he would see one of the guys raise their leg and then swing it down in a kicking motion. He couldn't really be sure of what was happening, so he decided to throw caution to the wind and walk more closely to the group of guys.

The dark-haired teen didn't really know what to expect upon getting closer to the group of guys, but the sickening thuds of the kicks and the muffled cries he heard as he got into range, quickly began to send chills down his spine.

As he got closer, he could make out two distinct forms lying on the ground in the center of the group. His pulse began to increase and his breathing quickened. 'Oh shit,' he thought to himself. 'This cannot possibly be happening. What the hell am I going to do?'

Before he knew what he was doing, he found himself jogging over toward the group and yelling. He didn't know exactly what he was going to do or what he was yelling, but apparently the group had taken notice. Several of them had turned around and were now getting the attention of the others. 'Fuck,' Jordan thought to himself. He could have just made this situation a whole lot worse for himself.

Then, in a move he didn't expect, the group of guys made a break for it, not toward him, but away from him and the two people who were still lying on the ground.

The adrenaline running through his body must have been impairing his judgment because he didn't even think twice about what was happening as he continued running toward the place where the group had just been standing.

When he got close enough to see who exactly it was lying on the ground, his blood ran cold. "Oh no," he said to himself. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the police.

"Hello," he said into the receiver. "I'm on campus next to the student union. I need an ambulance here now! Two of my friends were just beaten up. They're not moving and they're bleeding."

He looked around the ground and took in everything. It made him want to vomit. The coppery smell of blood filled his nostrils as he said one last thing to the dispatcher before hanging up. "Please hurry. There's so much blood."

-----------------------------------------

Troy had begun pacing the room almost immediately after he had kicked Jeff out. And that was over 30 minutes earlier. Something about this just wasn't sitting right with him. He didn't know why or what exactly it was, but he just had one of those feelings.

He'd tried dialing Ryan's cell phone several times, but it kept going to voicemail after several rings. He tried convincing himself that Ryan had just put the phone on silent and was busing calming his friend down. But not matter how many times he told himself that he couldn't bring himself to actually believe it.

He was just about to leave the room and go looking for his boyfriend when his cell phone began ringing. He picked it up off the desk and looked at the caller ID screen and let out a sigh when he saw that it was Ryan's cell phone. He answered.

"Ryan!" he exclaimed. "I've been trying to call you for the last half hour. Where have you been? Did you find Kaden? When are you going to be back?"

His questions, however, went unanswered. Instead, a semi-familiar voice greeted him. "Troy?" the voice asked. "This is Jordan—Ryan's friend."

"Jordan?" Troy asked confusedly. "Why do you have Ryan's phone? Do you know why he hasn't been answering? What's going on?"

"I'm at the hospital right now," Jordan replied, but before he could continue with his explanation, Troy interrupted again.

"What?" he asked. "Why are you at the hospital?"

"I was walking through the campus a while ago and I saw something going on in the quad. I was walking up to the group and then I noticed they were doing something," he said and then began trailing off into an explanation of some minute detail that was only serving to confuse Troy more than he was already.

"Jordan," Troy said, interrupting Ryan's friend. "Just tell me what's going on. You're at the hospital and I can't find Ryan. I'm starting to freak out."

"I found Ryan and Kaden in the quad," Jordan said, then let out a breath and spoke softly and calmly. "They looked so bad, Troy. There was so much blood everywhere. I called the police and they got an ambulance there. We've been at the hospital for a little bit now. They just gave me some of their things. I got Ryan's phone and knew I had to give you a call."

Troy couldn't believe what he was hearing. This had to be some joke. That's right, some sick practical joke that this Jordan guy was playing. Ryan was just supposed to go out and find his friend. Someone had to be mistaken. Any minute now Ryan was going to come into his room with his friend and give Troy a big hug. And everything would be okay.

"Troy?" the voice from his phone brought him back out of his thoughts. "Troy, are you still there?"

"You're joking," Troy said softly.

"What?" Jordan asked.

"You're joking," Troy repeated, his fear escalating with each passing second. "You're some sick fuck and this is all some big joke. Ryan is going to be home any second."

"Troy," Jordan said again. "I would never do that. You need to come to the hospital now. They're already getting a hold of Ryan and Kaden's families, but you need to get here. When he wakes up, he'll need someone who loves him to be here."

"I—" Troy started. "This can't be happening. We were just here studying. He's going to be home any minute."

"Troy!" Jordan yelled over the phone. "You need to snap out of it and get to the hospital! Now!" Then hung up the phone.

Troy just stood there for a second, reality sinking in. He stared at his phone one more time and then bolted for the door. He had to get to Ryan. He had to protect him. He had to make things better. The only problem was he didn't know how he was going to do any of that.

**A/N: Whew. That was a tough chapter to write. I hope it was worth the wait. I know I said last time that I was going to be more frequent with my updates until the story was finished and I'm sorry that this didn't get up any sooner, but the end of the semester was kicking my butt. Now, I'm back home and on break, so, like I was telling bobrabbit, things will get going and I'll be getting the last three chapters out much quicker than I have been with the last two.**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter even though it might be a little tough to read and despite the lack of any kind of happiness in it. Things aren't looking too good for our boys right now, but they'll find their way. I'm not really sure about this chapter, though. It was really difficult to put together the way I wanted, so your opinions would definitely be appreciated! Please read and review!**

**JaimeKay:** Thanks for the review and no worries. I'm glad you're enjoying this.

**OC4life:** Thanks for that! I'm glad you like my stuff. I have so many ideas swirling in my head right now, I'm not sure what I'll do next, but rest assured it will be about our two favorite boys.

**uberpsi:** Haha … no strike for me. Someone has to keep entertaining (hopefully) people. I don't think there's much hope for Kaden and Jeff after all of this.

**Dodecahedron:** I hope this was a good follow-up to the cliffhanger. Sorry about the wait.

**ellbtvsvm:** Troy's on his way, never fear!

**just-nikki:** Aww … you make me blush. I'm really glad you're enjoying this story. I hope you like this chapter.

**Shadow Cat17:** Kaden does deserve better. But sometimes it's easier to settle. Can you tell I'm talking from experience?

**MademoiselleSilver:** Wow … you've been following this for a long time. I think I had an eight-month hiatus (that was bad of me), but, look! We're almost to the end! Who's excited!?! I'm glad you're enjoying this!

**Spice of Life:** That's how I get out of that one … I dug myself deeper. What do you think?

**LucasLover:** It's much less hectic now, thanks! I hope you enjoy the update!

**TragedyInTheMaking:** I believe in going big or going home. When I bring the drama, I bring the drama. And about Tyler … I don't know if he's going to be coming back … but, hey, if the urge strikes me, who knows.

**Phoenix II:** Chickenshit. I love it. How spectacularly not good was it? Did I live up to your expectations?

**WriterOnWheels:** Thanks for the wish of good luck. Graduate school is a nightmare sometimes. Especially when your students are mentally kicking the crap out of you. Anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying and I hope you continue to enjoy!

**bobrabbit100:** Jeff might just be getting what's coming to him in the next chapter. I hope this chapter was also worth the wait. Now I'm anxiously awaiting your review!


	23. Chapter 23

Troy was vaguely aware of his surroundings. He knew that he had just been dropped off by Ryan's RA at the hospital parking lot, but the cold rain drops pelting him from the sky were barely registering with him.

He began making his way toward the emergency room entrance, the red neon emergency sign the only thing letting him know he was going in the right direction. When the sliding doors opened, Troy was blasted with a gust of lukewarm, sterile hospital air. He stepped over the threshold and immediately his pulse began to rise. He had never liked hospitals, and now, when he was there to find his boyfriend.

Once fully ensconced in the ultra-sanitary environment, Troy lost all momentum. He had no idea where to go, no idea where he was supposed to find Ryan. There had to be thousands of people in thousands of rooms in this place, and Troy didn't have the first idea where to start looking. He could feel himself break out into a cold sweat, his breathing quickened. He looked in one direction, and then the other. There were people sitting all over the waiting area, some who appeared to be injured, others just waiting, but he never once caught a glimpse of the blond head he knew so well.

He didn't know what he had been expecting, but upon realization that Ryan was not in the waiting room, Troy's heart felt like it had just dropped into his stomach. Whatever emotions of panic that Troy had been experiencing moments ago were now amplified by 10. He saw the nurses' station off to the side of the room and began making his way over to it to see if he could find out anything, maybe get a sedative for himself, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

Troy turned around and came face to face with Jordan. Usually he would be glad to see a familiar face, but right now his mind was focused on one thing and one thing only, and it certainly wasn't the tall brunette standing in front of him.

"Troy," Jordan said, snapping Troy out of his thoughts. "I'm glad you got here quickly. I didn't really feel comfortable being the only one here with them and I—"

"Where is he?" Troy asked, cutting Jordan off.

Jordan was taken aback for a second, apparently he was expecting Troy to be a little more talkative in the wake of this … whatever it was. But he was wrong. When Troy was focused, no one could deter him, save a petit blond. But seeing as how that was his current focus, no one was going to be able to do anything about it until he had achieved his goal.

"He's right this way," Jordan said, pointing down the hallway and beginning to walk in that general direction. "But I have to warn you, he's pretty beaten up." At Troy's glare, he added, "I just didn't want you to be too shocked when you see him."

"Do you know what happened to him?" Troy asked, seemingly ignoring Jordan's last comment as he continued walking in the direction his friend had just pointed out.

"I only got there at the end," Jordan started, "but I know there was a group of guys there. Ryan will be able to fill you in if he wants to talk about it."

"He's awake?" Troy asked, surprised. He hadn't expected Ryan to be awake when he got there. Well, he really didn't know what to expect at all. Once he arrived at the hospital, he had begun preparing himself for the absolute worst. But if Ryan was awake, then that meant no matter how bad he looked right now, things would get better.

Jordan nodded his head. "He woke up just a bit ago," he said. "But he's not really all there. They have him on a lot of pain medication and stuff."

"At least he's awake," Troy said, feeling at least some relief start to trickle through him. Then a thought crept into his consciousness. He had been so focused on Ryan that he had completely forgotten about the person they had all originally been worried about. "What about Kaden?"

"Kaden's actually doing a lot better than Ryan," Jordan said, looking relieved himself. "I guess Ryan took the most of whatever happened to them. I think the doctors are going to release Kaden tonight, but they're going to have a hard time making him leave. He's been asking about Ryan ever since we got here."

"But he's alright?" Troy asked. He let out a breath when he saw Jordan's nod in the affirmative. At least he wouldn't have to be worrying about more than one person this evening. That might have sounded a bit callous if Troy had actually spoken those words, but his primary concern was, and always would be, Ryan's well being.

The two men continued walking down the hospital corridor not really talking one another, but lost in their own thoughts, each on a different blond. Troy couldn't help but noticing that everything in the hospital was colored in some off-white. That, combined with the smell and general feeling of the hospital made Troy want to get Ryan out of there as soon as possible. Hospitals were for the dead or dying, in his opinion. And Ryan wasn't going to fit into either of those categories if Troy had anything to do about it.

After passing through several units and many rooms, Jordan slowed and pointed to a room at the end of the corridor. "That's Ryan's room," he said. "Kaden's is right here. I'm going to check up on him while you go see Ryan."

With that, Jordan turned and walked into a nearby room. Troy stood still for a moment, bracing himself for what he might see when he walked into Ryan's room. After a moment, Troy began slowly walking down the hallway. He stopped a few paces before the door in a last ditch attempt to calm himself. When he realized that it wouldn't work and that he wanted more than anything to just see Ryan, he closed the distance between himself and the room containing his boyfriend.

No matter how much he tried to calm himself, nothing could have prepared for how utterly broken Ryan looked. He was lying on a hospital bed, blankets covering him, the sea of fabric making him look even more fragile than he already was. The blond had a bandage covering the majority of his head, and Ryan could see the spot where the blood had already begun to soak through the gauze. His face was covered in bruises and small cuts, one of his eyes was swollen shut. And to top it al off, he had a cast on one of his arms.

Troy felt the tears prickling his eyes as they began to run down his cheeks. No amount of self-control could have stopped that from happening. He began walking slowly toward the bed when Ryan's head turned to face him. The blond offered up a weak smile as Troy closed the gap. The tears were now pouring freely from Troy's eyes and he wiped furiously at his face to try and get them off. Ryan needed him to be strong.

"Don't cry, baby," Ryan whispered. "Look," he said, gesturing to himself, "I'll be just fine. I just have a few bumps and bruises."

"And a broken arm and what looks like a hell of a bump on your head," Troy said, softly placing his hand on one of Ryan's thighs as he came up to the edge of the bed.

"Some broken ribs, too," Ryan added. "But who's keeping track, right?" He laughed weakly, but stopped because of the pain ripping through his body whenever he made the slightest movement.

"This really isn't something you should be joking about, babe," Troy said, as he pulled a chair up to the edge of the bed so he could sit next to Ryan.

Ryan then turned his head so he could look directly at Troy as he sat down. "I have to joke about it," he said. "If I don't joke about it, then it becomes real, and if it becomes real right now, I don't know if I would be able to handle it."

Troy grabbed Ryan's hand that was not currently in a cast, to show support. He noticed, however, that even though it wasn't in a cast, it was still scraped, cut and bruised. Was there not one spot on his boyfriend that was untouched?

Ryan noticed his boyfriend's lingering gaze. "It looks worse than it feels, I promise," he said, earning a look from Troy.

"That's because you're so pumped up full of drugs," Troy retorted. "Can you even feel my hand here? I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't."

Ryan smiled. "Now who's cracking jokes?" he asked, squeezing Troy's hand tightly within his own.

"I love you," Troy said, looking from his boyfriend's hands to his crystal blue eyes. "If there was a way I could have taken this for you, I would have."

"Don't be silly, Troy," Ryan said, frowning. "There is no way you could have stopped this from happening. I know how your mind works, so don't even think about beating yourself up about all of this."

"But if I went out to look for Kaden I might have been able to stop this from happening," Troy said, not really listening to what Ryan had just said. "At least you wouldn't be here right now."

"Troy," Ryan sighed. "There is no way you could have known that a bunch of the jackasses from Jeff's fraternity were going to be coming through the quad after I found Kaden. Absolutely no way. So stop this."

"Jeff's fraternity?" Troy asked, once again, picking up on the one thing Ryan didn't want him to focus on. "They're the ones who did this to you and Kaden? Wait until I get my hands on them—"

Troy's rant was cut short by the yelp of pain from the blond lying next to him. He didn't realize he had been squeezing Ryan's even harder when he found out. He had let his anger get the better of him. He immediately let go of Ryan's hand, jumped up from his chair and back from the bed. "Oh my god, Ry," he said, running his hands through his hair. "Did I hurt you? Do you need me to get a hold of the doctor or anything? I'll go get a nurse."

"Troy!" Ryan yelled, well, as loudly as he could. "Sit down. Shut up. And listen to me." Troy complied, bringing his chair back to the edge of the bed. He hesitantly took Ryan's offered hand again as he sat down. "I'm tired and the drugs are making me even more tired, so you need to listen to me for just a minute."

Troy nodded his head and remained quiet, so Ryan proceeded. "There is nothing you could have done to stop this, aside from being clairvoyant. I will be just fine an little while and the guys who did this to us will pay for it. All I need you to do right now is sit here, hold my hand and tell me I look beautiful even though I don't."

"You do look beautiful," Troy said, smiling and squeezing Ryan's hand lightly. "You'll always be beautiful to me, no matter what."

"Good," Ryan said through a yawn. "Now, give me a kiss before I fall asleep."

Troy smiled and leaned out of his chair to press a soft kiss to Ryan's lips. He sat back down and the two of them looked at each other for a moment before Troy settled back down.

"Do your parents know everything?" Troy asked, remembering about Ryan's slightly (read: very) overprotective family. Sharpay was scary on her best days; there was no telling what she would be like when she found out about this. "Do I need to call them or anything?"

"No," Ryan said, sleepily. His eyes were shut and Troy could tell it would only be a matter of minutes before his boyfriend was asleep. "The doctors called them and let them know everything. They'll be up here in a few hours."

Troy just nodded his head and sat back, still holding on to Ryan's hand. He just stared at his boyfriend's face. People would pay for what they had done and Troy would see to it. He was brought out of his thoughts again by Ryan's voice.

"Troy?" he asked.

"Yeah, baby?" Troy responded.

"You'll stay with me?" Ryan asked in a small, needy voice.

"Of course I will," Troy said as he leaned up to place a quick kiss on Ryan's lips. "I love you."

Ryan smiled slightly, almost completely asleep. "Love you, too."

And so Troy sat back in his chair, Ryan's hand in his, and watched his boyfriend sleep on the hospital bed. As soon as he was certain that Ryan wouldn't wake up due to noise, he began crying in earnest.

--------------------------------------------

After sitting in the hospital room for over two hours while Ryan slept, Troy gently pulled his hand free from his boyfriend's and got up from his chair to begin pacing around the room. Hopefully that would be able to clear his mind of all the thoughts racing through it.

There was no way he could let the people who had done this get away with anything. He didn't know how he would take care of everything, but he knew where he was going to start. In Troy's mind, there was one person this all boiled down to, one person upon whom he could lay all the blame. And now the only conflict running through his mind was that he couldn't leave the hospital without leaving Ryan there by himself.

He had told Ryan he would stay there with him. He didn't want to break that, but at the same time, he wanted to seriously kick the crap out of anyone who was even remotely involved in the incident.

After a few minutes of pacing, Troy had come to the conclusion that it wouldn't do anyone any good for him to go let out his aggression on someone's face. He turned back around to take his seat by Ryan's bed again when a groan, brought him out of his reverie. He looked back up to Ryan who was shifting slightly under the white hospital sheets. It seemed as though he was just trying to shift into a more comfortable position, but was having some difficulty because of his injuries. It may not have seemed like a big issue. Troy could just have walked over and helped his boyfriend move, but the look of pain across Ryan's face just snapped something within Troy.

His eyes hardened and a frown slid into place on his normally peaceful face. He walked over to the side table by his boyfriend's bed and wrote a quick note before turning on his heal and walking to the door. When he reached the threshold, he turned and gave a last look before leaving the room entirely.

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Troy didn't have a car, and so the walk from the hospital to his residence hall gave him plenty of time to stew in his anger and let his emotions consume him. By the time he actually reached his building, the morning sun had begun to rise, reminding Troy that he hadn't been to sleep at all in the last 24 hours and adding just one more offense to the list of things he was going to make his roommate pay for.

Each step he took brought him closer to his room and solidified his resolve. He was going to make Jeff pay. When he reached his door, he stood for a moment, just staring at the doorknob. He took a steadying breath and reached into his pocket for the key. He made quick work of the lock and soon had the door thrown open. The bang the door made against the wall reverberated throughout the room and obviously startled Jeff from his position on his bed.

"Troy!" Jeff yelped. "What's going on? Did you find them? Did they come back?"

Troy just ignored the questions and walked over to his closet. He began rifling through his closet taking some clothes out and throwing them onto his bed. He wasn't paying too much attention to his roommate and so didn't notice when Jeff got off his bed and walked up behind him.

When Jeff placed his hand on Troy's shoulder, he didn't even have a chance to see the fist coming toward him as Troy turned away from his wardrobe. He flew back from Troy, mostly out of surprise, but the force with which Troy had hit him was also a factor. He landed on his rear end on the cold linoleum floor.

Dazed, he didn't even see as Troy scrambled from his position by his wardrobe to bring himself face to face with his prone self.

"Do you really want to know what happened?" Troy asked. The unadulterated rage behind the brunette's words, took Jeff back. He didn't know where any of this was coming from, but he was desperate to find out, so he nodded.

"After you pulled that lame ass stunt at your house, Kaden didn't know what to do, so he called Ryan," Troy said, then noticing that Jeff's head had bowed, his gaze downcast, he gripped Jeff's hair and brought his head up so that they were looking straight into one another's eyes.

The anger behind Troy's actions, surprised even him, but that didn't stop him from trying to inflict as much emotional pain on Jeff as both Ryan and Kaden had physically experienced the previous day. "Ryan left and found him, but before they could get back, they ran into some of your jackass brothers," Troy said, still holding Jeff's hair. "And you know what they did?"

When Jeff didn't move or speak, Troy brought his face right next to his roommate's. So close, he could feel the fear radiating off Jeff's body. "They beat the shit out of them," Troy said. Then he let go of Jeff's hair and stood up. He began pacing their room, looking anywhere but at his roommate who was still sitting on the floor.

"They sent them to the fucking hospital, you shit!" Troy yelled. "Ryan has got a broken arm and some broken ribs! And you know why all this happened? Huh? It happened because you're too much of a chickenshit to actually stand up to those pieces of shit that you call brothers."

Tears were now streaming down Jeff's face. He couldn't believe what had happened, but there really was no other explanation for why Troy would be acting like this if it weren't true.

Troy noticed the tears and shot Jeff a cruel smirk. "Oh, so you're crying now?" Troy asked coldly. "Where was that emotion when your brothers were throwing insults at Kaden? Where was that concern when the people you claim to love really could have used it?"

Again, Jeff could offer no answer that would satisfy Troy's fury, so he stayed silent.

"You know what?" Troy asked rhetorically. "This is fucked up. I can't even stand to be around you." And with that he turned back to his bed and grabbed the clothes he had been tossing out of his wardrobe. He shoved them into a bag and then swung it over his shoulder.

"Don't bother coming to the hospital," he spat. "No one there wants to see you, and I'm sure Ryan's family would have a few choice things to say to you as well. So why don't you just go and fuck up someone else's life."

And before Jeff could even think of something to say, Troy had walked out of the room and slammed the door shut.

--------------------------------------------

Kaden was sitting on the uncomfortable hospital bed, alone in his room. The doctors said they were going to discharge him earlier, but then decided to hold him over night just in case.

It was just a bunch of bullshit if you asked Kaden. Sure he was sore in plenty of areas, but he was fine. He could feed himself; he could walk. He could even remember his own name. The doctors were just being over protective. But at least it gave him the opportunity to stay close to Ryan, who, according to the doctors, had gotten it much worse than he had. Thinking back on everything, he still couldn't believe that Ryan had stood up for him and taken everything like he had. He didn't know if he would ever be able to repay his friend.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a soft knock at the door. He looked up to the entryway to see the dark head of Jordan poking through. He offered up a smile and waved his friend in.

"I just wanted to check in and see how you were doing," Jordan said as he came in to stand somewhat awkwardly by Kaden's bed. "So … uh … how are you doing?"

Kaden smiled. He thought Jordan's awkwardness around him was cute, and a definite change of pace from how guys had been acting around him lately or, well, ever. With the notable exception of Tyler from the beach. But, it was still nice having someone around him who wasn't afraid to show affection or concern toward him publicly. "I'm doing well," Kaden said. "Well, as good as I can be still being here."

Jordan returned his smile, but stayed standing near the bed. "Why don't you pull that chair up here and sit down," Kaden said, motioning to the chair over by the window. Jordan nodded his head and moved over to get, what Kaden assumed was an uncomfortable chair.

He wondered if Jordan had any idea how obvious he was being, If he thought he was being anywhere near sly, he had another thing coming to him, but still, it was cute to see him get awkward while trying to impress him.

"So," Jordan began again once he sat down. "When do you think the doctors are going to let you out of here?"

"They said I should be able to go sometime today," Kaden started. "But I'll probably just end up staying around here until Ryan gets let out, and I don't know how long they're going to keep him."

The two of them sat in silence for several moments, neither of them wanting to talk about what had led to them being in the hospital at that moment. Kaden sat, looking at his hands that were crossed in his lap while Jordan looked everywhere but at the other man in the room. When he did turn his gaze upon his crush, he noticed how deep in thought he was … and how it made him look really cute.

"So, you and Ryan have gotten really close, haven't you?" he asked.

Kaden looked up from his bed and smiled at Jordan. "Yeah," he answered. "I never really expected my roommate and I to be very close, but we have a lot in common, and we're always there for each other."

"That must be nice," Jordan agreed, noticing that Kaden seemed to feel better when he got his mind of his current condition. "I haven't been able to make any really good friendships like that. Not that I haven't tried," he added a little bitterly.

Kaden looked at him curiously. It wasn't like they hadn't hung out before, but there was still so much he didn't know about this man, this man who had come to his rescue last night. He sure as hell wasn't ready for any kind of hot and heavy relationship, but he definitely wanted to get to know Jordan, maybe even become a good friend.

"Well," Kaden started, "when they let me out of here, want to go down to the cafeteria and get some coffee?"

Jordan just laughed, but nodded his head.

-------------------------------------------------

Ryan turned in his bed, well, as much as he could. He was beginning to wake from his drug-induced sleep and slowly opened his eyes. Before he even got his bearings, he heard the distinct voice of some of his friends.

"Oh Leslie," Meg cried softly. "Sleeping Beauty has finally decided to wake up."

"Good," he heard Leslie say. "I thought for a little bit there that I'd have to kiss him or something fairytale like to get him to wake up. They must have given him some pretty good drugs. Do you think he could get me some?"

Ryan laughed. Even in times like this, there were always people you could look to who could lighten the mood. And apparently those two people were in his room right now. He opened his eyes to see Meg sitting in Troy's seat while Leslie walked across the room, probably scoping it. He continued to look around, but couldn't find Troy.

"Hey you two," he said, smiling. "How long have you been here? How did you even know I was here?"

"Oh, sweety," Meg said, leaning in and grabbing Ryan's hand. "You of all people should know that Leslie and I are basically the queens of gossip. Nothing happens in this city without either of us knowing about it."

"I should have known," Ryan sighed. "Do a ton of people know about it yet?"

Meg frowned a little. "Well, whenever a student is admitted to the hospital like this, the university administration gets notified. So, they all know. And I assume that they've started trying to find out exactly what happened. I'm sure there are some students who know, but it can't possibly be that many."

"I just have a really good radio scanner," Leslie said as she sat down on the arm of Meg's chair.

Meg just shook her head at her friend. "So," she began. "Do you know when they're going to let us spring you from this dump? This décor can't be doing much for your sensibilities, can it?"

"No," Ryan said, laughing. "They said they're going to at least keep me for the day and one more night because of my head injury." He finished by pointing to his head bandage, which must have been replaced over night because there was no comment about how much blood was there.

The three friends continued with small talk for a while, but Troy's unexplained absence was really starting to bug Ryan. He wouldn't have just left without telling him. "Do you know where Troy is?" he asked Meg, maybe she had seen him on her way in.

"I thought it was weird that he wasn't here when we got here, but I thought you knew," she said. Ryan just frowned and shook his head.

"So, I was thinking," Leslie said, in the way she normally did when she decided to change the course of conversation. "We need to start planning your comeback social. I think we should have it at the Peacock."

"Don't you think it's a little soon to be planning any kind of party?" Meg asked, shooting her friend an incorrigible look. "Besides the Peacock Lounge is disgusting. You know what happened the last time we went there."

"First," Leslie said. "It's never too early to plan a party. Second, the Peacock is fine establishment with a very economical drink menu. And finally, you can't just nix a place because that slut JoAnne decided to use the bathroom as her own private brothel."

Megan began to rebut, but was cut off as an out-of-breath Troy jogged hurriedly into the room. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed that Ryan was awake and that there were guests in the room.

"Hey guys," he said quickly, then began to move over by Ryan. "When did you get here?"

"I think the better question is where have you been?" Ryan asked, moving to sit up in his bed. He grimaced when he put too much strain on his torso and Troy rushed to his side to help him.

"I just had to run to campus real quickly," Troy said. "I had something that needed to get taken care of."

Ryan could tell that Troy wasn't exactly telling the whole truth, but he wasn't going to pry while Meg and Leslie were there. They would talk about Troy's secret adventure soon enough. Right now, he just wanted to enjoy the company and lean against his boyfriend.

"So anyway," Ryan started, changing the topic once again. "I believe we were in the middle of planning my comeback social event."

"Oh yes," Leslie said and the dove into a plan she had apparently been planning ever since they found out that Ryan was in the hospital.

The four friends continued talking for quite a while, helping Ryan keep his mind of less pleasant things. Eventually, they were joined by Kaden, who had been discharged from the hospital, but wanted to stay with Ryan, and Jordan. The group of six then continued with their day of talking and planning, Ryan nodding off every now and then, Troy never leaving his side.

**A/N: Okay, so how's that for a faster update? Not only that, but it's an extended chapter! I assume you're applauding the computer screen right now. Anyway, what did you all think? I'm actually really satisfied with the first half of the chapter … well, all of it really, but especially the first half.**

**We're down to two more chapters, and I'm going to try my damnedest to keep my goal of finishing this story before the year is out. I guess that means I'll be burning the midnight oil for the next few evenings. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I'm really proud of it. Also, think of it as my Christmas gift to all of you. I hope you all have a happy holiday season, whichever you celebrate! Now, I'm going to spend some time with my family. Leave me some love.**

**ellbtvsvm:** What do you think about what Troy did with that jerk in this chapter? I hope you enjoyed!

**BluePuppeta.JAA:** I always appreciate your reviews. I don't find them offensive, so you don't have to apologize. I know there are many cliché situations in this story, but … I don't know, I try to do something different with them. Also, I enjoy both chocolates and strawberries. Go you!

**Philosopher-kaiser:** I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. I think Troy stepped into some definite action this chapter. And beware! Next chapter features the return of Sharpay. That could probably be the title of another fanfic, don't you think?

**bobrabbit:** How was the fluffiness in the hospital in this chapter? Also, I just can't leave Jeff out of the last few chapters, so he'll be there.

**Shadow Cat17:** I think Jeff deserved to be more than yelled at … I guess you could probably tell from this chapter, though. I hope you enjoyed. And have a happy holiday!

**BitterGrin:** You like me! You really like me! Well, you like the story, and I like that! I hope this chapter was what you were looking for.

**OC4life:** Hint taken. And hey, look … updated on Christmas, just like you requested!

**Phoenix II:** Well, Jeff found out, but it wasn't exactly like you had planned. Still, a lot happened in this chapter, yes? I hope you enjoyed it!

**fieryflame:** Have you heard about how your finals turned out? Mine turned out spectacularly! I don't think I could have written a more detailed fight scene, but you did get to see what Ryan looked like in this chapter, so that kind of makes up for it, right?

**WriterOnWheels:** Here, I didn't want to make you wait too long, so here's the update! I hope you like it.

**just-nikki:** I hope this chapter was a little less depressing for you. We're on our way to the resolution of the story, now, so things should be too bad from here on out.

**ceci est pourquoi j'ai chaud:** I'm sorry! I didn't mean to upset you or your mother! But, Ryan's not dead. I hope you enjoy. Also … what does your name mean? ….. something because I'm hot?


	24. Chapter 24

Troy walked back into Ryan's hospital room, carrying a small bouquet of flowers. It was a bit more crowded than it was three days earlier, but that was mostly due to the fact that Ryan's family had basically set up shop at the hospital, home base being Ryan's room. Troy could tell that his boyfriend appreciated the fact that his entire family had dropped everything to come and be with him, but that they were starting to grate on his nerves. It's one thing to live in a house with an incredibly overbearing family; it's an entirely different thing to be in a hospital room with all of them 24 hours a day.

Things had been rough at the beginning, Ryan's mom wouldn't stop crying and his father had ticked off a few of the nurses with his constant ordering around, but eventually, to Troy's surprise, Sharpay had been the voice of reason and had kept the peace between the elder Evans and the hospital staff. But today would be different. Today was the day that Ryan would be discharged from the hospital.

Troy hadn't spent more than a few hours every day away from the hospital. It just felt weird being on campus knowing Ryan was still there. Kaden apparently felt the same way as he hadn't spent much time away from Ryan either. Both of them got on a first name basis with most of the nursing staff and were given extra pillows and blankets when they chose to stay the night in the waiting rooms. But, regardless of how comfortable they had all become there, Troy was glad they were spending their last hours there today. And he knew Ryan was the same way.

He snickered as he heard Ryan whining to his mom yet again. "Mom," Ryan drawled out, "I'm okay. Really. You don't need to be fussing over me. Just because I have a cast on my arm doesn't mean I need you feeding me like I was a baby."

Picturing a fully grown Ryan being force-fed by his mother was a little much for Troy and he let out a loud guffaw. Ryan's face then turned from his mom to shoot a glare at his boyfriend. Until he noticed the flowers in the brunet's hand. "You think just because you bring me flowers you can laugh at my misfortune?" Ryan asked, smiling at his boyfriend.

Troy just shrugged and walked over to Ryan's bedside and handed him the small group of flowers. Ryan brought them to his nose and smelled them before reaching up and pulling his boyfriend back down to plant a big smooch on his lips. Troy pulled back, grinning goofily at the blond. Ryan had been surprisingly well-adjusted after everything that had happened, but Troy had to admit that it was like lifting a weight off his shoulders knowing that Ryan would be okay.

He sat down on the side of the bed next to Ryan, noting that it was nowhere near as comfortable as his bed back in the dorm—and that was saying something. Ryan was probably more excited about leaving the hospital than anyone else; at least they hadn't been subjected to four whole days with nothing more than that bed to lie on. Of course, Ryan probably wouldn't want to spend too much time napping, even though his broken ribs were sure to cause a lot of pain. Ryan wasn't one for spending the whole day in bed; he had been going a little stir crazy while being confined to the small hospital bed. Troy only hoped he would take things slowly for a little while.

The two talked for several minutes while Ryan's parents walked down to the cafeteria to get some coffee. Well, that's what they said, but Ryan was sure they were going to try to harass the staff a little bit more while they still could. They were deep in conversation about just that when they heard a discreet cough come from near the doorway. They both turned and smiled when they realized that Kaden and Jordan were there, presumably to see Ryan back out into the land of the living.

"Hey guys," Ryan piped up from his bed. "I thought you'd be back at the room hanging up the streamers and balloons for the welcome back party I'm sure you've planned."

Kaden laughed and walked over to the bed, leaving Jordan by the entrance. "Yeah, well, I'm more efficient than you think," Kaden said, stopping at the foot of the bed. "I've had the decorations taken care of since last night. We're just waiting on the food now."

"Ha, ha," Ryan said sarcastically. "But seriously, don't you have classes and stuff you need to be going to?"

"I talked with my professors," Kaden said. "They said to take as much time as I need to get everything in order."

"Ah," Ryan said, nodding his head in understanding. He then looked over to where Jordan was still standing. "You can come all the way in the room, you know."

Jordan just nodded and slowly made his way over to where Kaden was standing. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked. "One time my mother hurt herself and she had to come into the hospital for a bit, and when she got out the only thing she would eat is Jell-o. I made you some back home."

Troy and Ryan just looked awkwardly at Jordan, not really know what to say in response to what he'd just told them. But they didn't really need to when Kaden stepped in to explain. "He rambles when he's nervous," he said, sending the tall, dark-haired boy an exasperated look.

Ryan smiled and then looked from Kaden to Jordan. "Don't worry," he said. "Troy doesn't bite. At least he better not. He can only bite me."

Jordan blushed at hearing that. He apparently wasn't too used to people, especially gay men, being so open about their relationships in front of others. Kaden noticed and smiled at his friend while nudging him slightly in the side.

The move didn't go unnoticed by a certain blond haired boy who never let anything slide when he saw it. "Speaking of biting," Ryan said, "you two look awfully close. Should I be worrying about having another roommate when I get back?"

This time both boys blushed deeply. Ryan just smiled. "We're just, we're," Kaden began, "we're just getting to know each other. I don't want to rush into anything …" and then he trailed off, leaving the rest of his sentence unsaid.

Ryan understood. It's not like it had been an inordinate about of time since he had broken up with Jeff. Hell, they didn't even know if the two of them had actually broken things off. Ryan and Troy had just assumed that they wouldn't be together. And Kaden didn't help things out much. Whenever anyone brought up Jeff, he just paled and then did everything he could to change the topic.

"Whatever you say," Ryan said. "But you better watch out, Jordan. I've seen the way that one officer who's been questioning us has been looking at Kaden. If you're not careful, he might just beat you to the punch."

Ryan's suspicions of Jordan's intentions were confirmed when he saw the look the boy cast at his roommate. It was a determined look, one that spoke all of Jordan's desires without him actually having to say a single word.

"Give me a break, Ry," Kaden scoffed. He still didn't see when other men were practically falling over themselves trying to impress him. "He was probably just trying to get on my good side so I could give him all the information he needed."

Their conversation was cut short when Sharpay strolled into the room. She had been running interference most of the time, and anyone could tell that she was starting to get frustrated with everything. But if all went as planned, Ryan and the rest of his motley crew would be out of the hospital in less than a half hour.

"Is there anything in here that you need and we haven't packet yet?" Sharpay asked, walking over to the mirror and checking her reflection. "The orderlies are going to be by in a few minutes with your wheelchair and then we're going to take you back to your room."

"Do you really think a wheelchair is necessary?" Ryan asked, heaving a deep sigh. No matter what had happened four days ago, he was not an invalid. He didn't need all this stuff and he most certainly didn't need to be taken out of the hospital by a wheelchair.

"I knew you would react this way," his sister began, "but I've already had this conversation with them and there is no way you're getting out of it. They have to do it for insurance purposes, so you might as well just suck it up and go along for the ride."

Ryan sunk back into the bed with a frown on his face. "Oh, don't be such a baby," Sharpay said. "Besides, you know Troy loves playing the knight in shining armor role. This is right up his alley."

She then turned from the mirror and for the first time, noticed Jordan standing in the room next to Kaden. A predatory smile graced her face as she sauntered over to the tall, no somewhat frightened, boy. "And just who are you?" she asked. "And why haven't I seen you around before?"

"Uh, I'm uh," Jordan stuttered.

"His name is Jordan," Ryan interrupted. Who knew how long it was going to take for Jordan to spit out that sentence. "He's the one who called the police that night."

"Oh, so I guess I have you to thank for saving my brother," she replied, giving him the once over and moving imperceptibly closer to him. She didn't notice the look Kaden shot her, but Ryan did and decided that he might as well break the news to his sister now rather than enjoy watching her try to attract someone that would never be attracted to her.

"He's gay, Shar," he said, trying to contain his laughter.

Sharpay's smile fell and an exasperated sound escaped her lips. "My God!" she exclaimed. "What is with this place and gay men? Do you all migrate here for school? Is there some kind of homing beacon here that just attracts all of you? I need to get back home. I know there are men there that will appreciate my feminine whiles."

Ryan just laughed. He could always count on his sister for the dramatics no matter what the situation. "Oh, come on," Ryan said. "You could never stand a chance against Kaden. He's like a gay magnet. He brings guys out of the woodwork wherever he goes."

Troy laughed. Jordan looked confused, as did Kaden. But Sharpay didn't seem to find the humor in the situation. "Whatever," she said. "You just better hope I don't throw a stick in between your wheelchair spokes."

"It doesn't matter," Ryan said haughtily as he leaned over closer to Troy. "My big, bad boyfriend will be there to protect me from you and all your evil ways." Troy just puffed out his chest to look important and imposing. It took only a second for both Ryan and Sharpay to burst out laughing at Troy's 'improved' physique.

Kaden and Jordan just shared a confused look and watched as the three of them interacted with each other. They would never have been able to guess that just three short years ago, Sharpay was chasing after Troy and that the two boyfriends barely even spoke to each other. It's funny how the world works.

Several minutes later, an orderly appeared in the room with a wheelchair. He was followed shortly by Mr. and Mrs. Evans. Ryan didn't even put up a protest when they moved him from the bed to the wheelchair. He was just really excited to get out of the hospital, and arguing with the staff would only prolong his stay. In just a little bit, he would be back in the comfort of his own room. Things were looking up.

-------------------------------------------

The drive back to campus had been quiet and quick. Ryan's parents sat in the front and kept to themselves while Sharpay, Ryan and Troy sat in the back. Troy made sure to give Ryan as much room as he needed to move around in the seat without causing himself any undue pain. That, however, left him with very little room for his own. Ryan tried coaxing him out of his little corner of the back seat when he noticed, but Troy wasn't having any of it. Ryan let out a sigh, hoping that this wasn't going to be indicative of what Troy was going to be like for the next few weeks.

When they started pouring out of the rental car in front of the residence hall, Troy gently helped Ryan out and made sure he was steady before turning to Kaden and Jordan who had just arrived in Jordan's car. After they had all figured out what they were going to do, Troy made his way back to Ryan and put his arm lightly around his boyfriend's waist and began to guide him back to the building.

"I'm not going to break, Troy," Ryan said, becoming a little irritated. "I can walk back to my room by myself."

"I know," Troy said, looking a little sheepish. "I just want to help, and I don't know what else to do."

"How about once we get all settled upstairs and my family takes off, you go down to the market and pick up some grapes," Ryan said as he leaned his head on Troy's shoulder. "Then you can come back up and feed them to me."

Troy just chuckled and continued walking toward the building. He'd probably end up going to the market as soon as Ryan's family had taken off.

The whole bunch headed into the building and while Ryan's parents went off in search of the resident director, probably to drive him as insane as they had the hospital staff, the rest walked up to the elevator. When the chime dinged and the doors opened, they all filed in. The ride up the building was much like the ride to it; no one spoke. But it wasn't an uncomfortable silence, just one that spoke to the state of mind of the group.

The doors opened once again and they all began filing out. Troy looked back into the elevator to make sure they hadn't left anything behind and because of that didn't notice that the rest of the group had stopped moving. He bumped into Ryan's back and rushed to make an apology and check that Ryan hadn't been hurt at all, when he noticed that no one was moving or making a sound. He looked up and then found out why.

Sitting in front of the door to Kaden and Ryan's room was Jeff, who was sporting a painful looking black eye. Troy looked at Ryan who had a frown on his face and then over to Kaden who had paled and was trying to disappear in the crowd of friends. He made to move over to Jeff and kick him out, but was beat to the punch by Sharpay.

She had been fully informed as to what had led up to the incident and then about Troy's little house call the day after, and judging from the sickly purple that adorned the other boy's face, she had a good guess of who exactly it was blocking their way.

"You need to go," Sharpay said softly, but not nicely as she approached the forlorn looking boy. "You're not making anything easier on anybody by being here right now."

"I just wanted a chance to talk to Kaden and Ryan," Jeff croaked out.

"I don't care what you want right now," Sharpay said. "I know that my brother just spent the last four days in a hospital. He has a broken arm and some broken ribs, not to mention that not even makeup will cover up the bruises on his face. And none of that would have happened if it weren't for you."

"But I _need_ to explain to them—" Jeff started, but was cut off by Sharpay's hand being shoved in his face.

"Like I said," she began again, "I don't care. And I don't think my parents will care much either when they get up here. So, unless you want to cause a huge scene in front of everyone on this floor, I suggest you get out of here right now."

Jeff looked like he was going to protest again, but when he looked over at the group still standing by the elevator and was confronted with glares from Troy, Ryan and Jordan and then the frightened look from Kaden, he gave in. He heaved a sigh and stood up from his position on the floor.

"I just wanted to make things right between all of us," Jeff said to Sharpay.

"Well, that's going to take a lot more than just saying you're sorry," Sharpay said back.

Jeff nodded and moved to head back toward the elevator. When he reached the group, they parted to allow him passage, but none of them said a word to him. He made a last ditch attempt to say something to Kaden, but when the blond flinched and turned away from him and into the tall dark-haired boy next to him, he finally realized the absolute futility of his attempts.

He nodded to Troy, who just looked coldly back at him. He pressed the call button and waited for the elevator to open. The few seconds it took seemed like forever, and he rushed into the metal box once the doors opened just so he could escape the harsh glares of his former friends.

When the doors closed, everyone in the hallway seemed to relax instantly. "Well, I hadn't been expecting that to happen," Ryan said, leaning back into Troy's chest.

"I don't think anyone was," Troy whispered back into Ryan's ear as he looked over to make sure Kaden was okay. The boy looked shaken, but Jordan apparently had the situation under control.

"I never thought I would be the one to suggest this, but how about we all go take a nap?" Ryan suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Troy said, leaning down to place a quick kiss on Ryan's exposed neck. And then he led Ryan into his room where the group settled down, Troy and Ryan on Ryan's bed, Kaden in his own and Jordan and Sharpay in random seats around the room.

-------------------------------------------

After both Ryan and Kaden had fallen asleep, Troy removed himself from his boyfriend's bed and stretched. He was going to make good on his earlier promise and run to the market so he could get some grapes for Ryan. He knew Ryan had only been joking when he suggested it, but it would make for something fun once he woke up.

Jordan had opted to stay back in the room while Troy and Sharpay went down to make the purchases. Just in case, he had said. Troy had a suspicion that it was just so he could watch as Kaden slept. It was cute.

The two friends spent much of the walk to the market like they had been spending the res of the day, in silence. When they reached the dining center, Troy walked over to the produce to find the grapes while Sharpay headed toward the refrigeration units to get something to drink.

They both met up at the counter, to pay for their things and Sharpay let out a laugh when she saw the grapes on the counter. "You know he was joking when he said that, don't you?" she asked.

"Yeah," Tory said, a slight blush creeping across his cheeks. "I just thought it would be something nice for when he woke up."

Sharpay stopped laughing, and just continued to look at Troy. He wasn't used to such scrutiny from Sharpay, and her just staring at him was beginning to creep him out. Finally, she let out a sigh and turned to face the cashier and hand him her card, then she turned back. "I can't believe I spent most of high school chasing after you, only to have you end up with my brother."

"Yeah, well …" Troy started nervously, raising his hand to run through his dark hair. "The heart wants what it wants, right?"

"At first, I thought you were doing it to just make me jealous," she said. "Then, after a while, and many broken nails, I realized that wasn't how you operated. You would never do something like that to someone."

Troy just continued to look at Sharpay. He had never seen her be so sincere before. He didn't know what to say, he had been caught so off guard by this impromptu confession session.

"You are probably the best thing that has ever happened to my brother," she said, taking one of Troy's hands in her own. "And I think he's the best thing that's happened to you, too."

"I _know _he is," Troy said without hesitation. "Not a day goes by that I'm not thankful to have him in my life."

"And that's why you two are perfect for each other," Sharpay said, releasing Troy's hand and allowing him to pay for his grapes. "I know you'll take good care of him."

"I always will," Troy said, knowing that there wouldn't ever be anything that could take Ryan away from him or him from Ryan.

"Well," Sharpay said, regaining her normal posture. "We better get back up there so you can surprise Ryan with your love-filled sap-fest."

The two friend headed back up to the dorm room chatting amicably all the way up. Apparently another chapter in Troy's life had finally come full circle.

**A/N: Aww, wasn't that sweet? I always wanted Troy and Sharpay to be friends. I know I said I was going to try and get this finished before the year passed me by, but darn it, I don't think I'll have the last chapter up in time. But, oh my gosh, we just passed the 100,000 word mark with this chapter. I didn't think I'd ever write this much, but I've just fallen in love with this story. I'm pretty sad that it's going to be over soon. I'll have to find something else with which to occupy my time.**

**Thanks to everyone who has continued to read and review. It's meant so much to me. It really has. I hope you all enjoy this penultimate chapter. And the last one will be up in the next few days.**

**BluePuppeta.JAA: **I think Jeff is definitely feeling miserable, but I don't think the gang is going to let up on him anytime soon. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter.

**ellbtvsvm:** I think Ryan is a trooper. He's like one of those guys who gets the crap kicked out of him and then just bounces right back. Kaden, on the other hand, is not quite like that. But yeah, Jeff definitely got what was coming to him.

**Shadow Cat17:** Ryan's family has arrived, and I think they're definitely acting in true Evans fashion. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**ceci est pourquoi j'ai chaud:** I took French for two years, you'd think I could tell what that meant, but no. I'm glad you like how I've written the characters. I think there's a lot more to go off for Troy than there is Ryan, but still. I'm glad you like it.

**er.x5599:** Thank you so much for that. Here is your update.

**philosopher-kaiser:** Oh, come on. Sharpay's not that bad. She's probably just insecure, although, I'm surprised I let her let Jeff get away without any other black eyes.

**BeBDanceSTX:** Wow, how long did it take you to get through all of this in one sitting? I'm glad you like the OCs, because I totally agree with you that most of the time, they get thrown in there without much thought. So, your saying that really means a lot ot me.

**loosedefense:** Sorry, no arson in this story. I've been thinking about continuing this story with a sequel, but I'm not so sure. I have so many other ideas floating around. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**LucasLover:** And now a Happy New Year! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**bobrabbit100:** I think I might have run out of the midnight oil. I'm kind of upset with myself, but whatev. This story is definitely going to be finished very soon. I'm glad you liked the last chapter. And I love Jordan, he's just so cute.

**Phoenix II:** I knew when I was writing that chapter that I would probably mix up Jeff and Jordan's name. I'm glad you caught it. I hope you like this chapter!

**MademoiselleSilver:** There are times when you just wish your story would update itself, don't you? That's happened to me a few times. But you're right, the reviews and adds definitely help with the motivation. But I've also just wanted to complete this for myself. It's been a great ride.

**OC4life:** LOL. Just call me Santa. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter so much. I hope you enjoy this one as well. Thanks!


	25. Chapter 25

Ryan walked into his room and threw his bag onto the bed. He had taken all of the sheets off just before he left for his last final and threw them into a bag with his comforter and pillow. There wasn't really much of anything left in the room. It had either been packed up and shipped back home or it was in a carryon bag waiting by the foot of his bed.

It was weird to Ryan to look around and not see anything in the room that had made it his and Kaden's. None of the posters they had hung that first weekend were up, everything in the room that had made it different from any other was gone and Ryan didn't like it very much. He just had a few more things to grab before he left the room for the last time to meet Troy and catch their taxi to the airport.

While throwing some random papers into his bag, Ryan took the opportunity to look around one last time. He remembered all the good times he'd had in there with Kaden, the first time they'd had 'boy talk,' the one time they had come back drunk and pretended to be fashion models. It was a room full of memories, some bad, but mostly good.

It had been about two months since he had come back from the hospital and things had progressed slowly at first, but then picked up until things had returned to what passed for normal in their lives. It was weird for Troy, sharing a room with Jeff, but once Jeff figured out that things would never go back to they way they had been, he stopped trying to pry information out of his roommate. It might have also had to do something with the fact that Troy hardly spent any time there anymore. What nights he didn't spend with Ryan, he spent at his fraternity house. Kaden and Ryan just avoided Jeff at all costs. Some might have called their actions juvenile, but it's what worked best for them.

Ryan had healed, but not quickly enough for his tastes. He and Troy had run into a little trouble when Troy refused to stop handling him with baby gloves, but they had worked through it. And when the time came for Ryan's cast to come off and the doctor gave him a clean bill of health he was ready to show Troy just how rough he could be played with. The reminder of that naughty memory brought a smile to Ryan's face and he didn't even hear as Kaden entered the room.

"So," Kaden said, drawing Ryan's attention away from where he was staring out of the window. "I guess it's time to check out."

"Yeah," Ryan said, moving back over to grab his bag off the bed and then pick up his luggage.

The two stood in the room just staring at each other for an awkward moment, not really knowing what to say to one another.

"Well, this is just weird," Kaden said, breaking the silence. "I don't think we've ever been that quiet while we were both in here."

Ryan cracked a smile. "Yeah, getting you to shut up is damn near impossible on most days and here we are on our last day together and you won't say a thing."

"You act like this is the last time we're ever going to see each other," Kaden said, a sad smile playing across his lips. "We're going to share an apartment next year and you know Troy is going to be there all the time, so it's going to be just like it was this year."

"I know," Ryan said wistfully. "Change is just something I don't deal with well. Especially when I'm not going to see someone for three months that I've seen every day."

"Aw," Kaden said, his eyes misting over. "That's so incredibly sappy and I love it." He reached over and brought Ryan into a bone-crushing hug.

"I just never thought that I would find such a good friend in someone that had just been thrown in with me, you know?" Ryan asked, still holding on to his roommate, his best friend.

"I know exactly what you mean," Kaden said, wiping his eyes. "We've been through a lot this year, haven't we?"

"That's a bit of an understatement, don't you think?" Ryan said finally pulling out of the embrace. The two of them certainly experienced more than their fair share of drama in their first year at college, more than most anyone else they knew.

"But next year is going to be a blast," Kaden said. "We're going to have a kitchen! A whole kitchen! And we won't have to eat the dining center food all the time. I'll have to teach you how to cook this great pasta dish I know and—"

"Whoa," Ryan said, interrupting his enthusiastic friend. "We have to move in there first. And I'll have you know that I am not a bad cook; I just need to widen the breadth of dishes I can cook."

"Right," Kaden laughed. "Troy said the only thing you can make is a grilled cheese sandwich, and even that is a maybe."

"And Troy isn't going to be having any sex for the next three months, so what does that tell you?" Ryan asked, making a mental note to slap his boyfriend upside the head when next he saw him.

"That I shouldn't say things like that about you no matter how true they are?" Kaden asked, an impish grin on his face.

Ryan just smacked him on the arm, but laughed about it, knowing full well that he couldn't cook worth a damn. And that's how Jordan found the two, laughing.

"What are you two laughing about?" he asked. Kaden looked over from where Ryan was standing and let a smile play across his face as he walked over to give him a kiss on the cheek.

Jordan had become a permanent fixture with them after they were released from the hospital and it didn't take long before Kaden found his walls crumbling and agreeing to go out on a date with him. One date turned into two and then soon after, Jordan asked Kaden out. They had been seeing each other ever since and this relationship was far less rocky and dramatic than his previous one.

Jordan always took things only as fast as Kaden wanted to go and never pressured him into anything. But what was more important was the simple fact that he acknowledged their relationship in front of others. The one thing that Jeff could never do, Jordan was more than willing to do without exception. The two really were a good match.

They both lived up in Portland, too, so Ryan was interested in seeing how much their relationship would progress over the summer break. He and Kaden had already made plans to keep in contact over the summer, so he was sure to know when anything happened, but it would be interesting to see everything when they got back to school in the fall.

"We were just talking about how Ryan cant' cook," Kaden said, dodging the open palm that was coming his way.

"Watch out," Ryan said with a menacing glare, "or I'll have to make sure that Jordan withholds sex from you for the next three months."

At that, the two boys both blushed. They had both decided that they weren't ready to have sex yet, and Ryan knew that. But he still felt the need to poke fun at it every now and again, much to the chagrin of his roommate and his boyfriend.

"So when are you two heading out?" Ryan asked.

"Well, I was just running over here to get him," Jordan said, indicating Kaden. "We were going to head out right now and then stop up at the mall in Woodburn and do some shopping before we got back into Portland. What about you?"

"Well, I just finished my last test," Ryan said, making a face. "I'm not sure how I did, so don't ask. But I was just coming to grab a few things and then I'm supposed to meet Troy over at his building to catch a cab."

"So," Kaden began, looking a little forlorn. He let out a quick sigh. "I guess this really is goodbye for now, huh?"

"It would appear that way, friend," Ryan said as he began rummaging around his bag, looking for something. "But I wanted to give you these before I left." He pulled out what had become a fixture in their room. Kaden smiled and reached out for the distinct yellow box of their favorite snack.

"I'm definitely going to miss 'boy talk,'" Kaden said. "But I guess I'll have these Wheat Thins around to keep me company until we see each other again."

"Hey," Ryan said. "We're still going to talk on the phone and when we have something big, we'll just have to make sure to have a box handy so we can get to the heart of the issue."

Kaden laughed and took the box. He let out another quick sigh before looking back up and reaching out to give Ryan one last hug. "We better get going so we can finish shopping before rush hour," Kaden said.

"Okay," Ryan agreed. "I'll be seeing you."

Both Jordan and Kaden waved as they walked out of the room. "Take care of him," Ryan added to Jordan. The tall boy just nodded his head and then both were out of sight. Ryan pulled out his cell phone and texted Troy a message letting him know he'd be over in just a few minutes. Then he took one last look around the room that held so many memories before he hefted his bag over his shoulder and left.

-------------------------------------------------

Troy situated himself next to Ryan in the backseat of the cab. It had just started to rain as he was loading the luggage into the trunk, so he hurried to finish and was now just content to sit next to his boyfriend and wait for them to arrive at the airport.

"I can't believe we just finished our first year at college," Troy said as he brought his arm around to rest across Ryan's shoulders. "It went by so quickly, too."

"I'm just glad we made it out alive," Ryan said, leaning his head down on Troy's chest. "There were times when I was worried we were going to survive."

Troy just chuckled and leaned down to place a soft kiss on his boyfriend's head. There had been a lot of times like this over the year, but there had also been many times when Troy himself didn't know whether or not they would come out of this year better than they had started it.

He didn't think he'd ever been as scared as he had been two months ago when he got that phone call from Jordan. His entire world had been turned upside down in under five minutes and it took well over a month for it to right itself again. But everything had gone back to normal and he owed much of his thanks to Kaden and Jordan. Those two had really been there for him and for Ryan.

He hadn't realized how much a part of his life Jeff had become until he no longer wanted anything to do with him. Not even Jeff's coming forward to the authorities and campus officials about what had happened was able to repair their relationship, however. It was just something Troy thought he would never be able to overcome.

"What are you thinking about, babe?" Ryan asked noticing that Troy had kind of gone off in his own world.

Troy looked back down at Ryan and smiled. "I was just thinking about Jeff," he replied simply.

"I still can't believe he told what all the Chi Delts were up to," Ryan said. "Just like I still can't believe that he would put up with all that hazing and stuff just to be a part of that group."

"Well, just take solace in the fact that they aren't on campus anymore," Troy said. "And Jeff had a lot of issues he was working through, just one of them being acceptance from his father. I can see why he stuck around there even if he didn't like it."

"I guess," Ryan said, hopefully ending their conversation. Jeff was still a topic he didn't like to dwell on too much. The two sat in a comfortable silence for a while, then, just watching the scenery as it passed them by.

"Kaden said he was going to teach me to cook next year," Ryan said as an afterthought.

"Wow," Troy said. "Do you think he really knows what exactly he's getting himself into? You're one of the few people I know that can mess up boxed macaroni."

"Hey!" Ryan protested. "I'm not that bad." Then seeing the knowing look on Troy's face he acquiesced. "Okay, fine. I am that bad. But still, I can learn."

"Sure you can, babe," Troy said, smiling.

"Either way, our apartment is going to be amazing next year," Ryan said, changing the subject. "I'm going shopping with Sharpay and Mom when I get home and we're going to pick out some furniture."

"Watch out, New Mexico," Troy said jokingly, "Ryan Evans is back."

"They'll be glad to have me," Ryan said indignantly.

"And who wouldn't?" Troy questioned, bringing Ryan in closer to him.

"We're going to be looking for a new bed, too," Ryan added.

"Then I better come along, too," Troy said. "I sleep on your bed as much as you do, so I might as well have a say on what it is."

"I guess that can be arranged," Ryan said, laughing. Yes, next year was looking up already … and it was still three months away.

**A/N: Oh my gosh! I can't believe it's over. I know this chapter is a lot shorter, but I had always planned it to be like that, just a way to wrap a few things up. I hope you guys all enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I've become really attached to these characters throughout this whole process and I'll be sad to not be writing about them any more. I was actually going through the number of OCs I made for this story and I'm still amazed at how many there were. I'm glad that a lot of you have been so accepting of so many of them.**

**I can't believe how differently this story turned out from what I had originally planned. When I first started writing it, I had planned for Jordan to be a central character, coming in between Troy and Ryan … but as I wrote Kaden and Jeff something just changed and we got this. But then I found a way to bring Jordan back. And … so yeah. The creative process is something interesting, that's for sure.**

**I just wanted to thank everyone once again for all the reviews and comments and everything. They've all meant so much to me. I don't know if I would have finished if it weren't for all of you. So, THANK YOU!!!**

**And … last but not least. I've decided what I'm going to do next. The story is going to be called "Thank Goodness." It's going to be a Tryan and a prequel to this story. You'll finally get to know how exactly Troy and Ryan got together. If you look back in this story, you'll find hints to it … but now you'll get to know everything. I hope you're all excited, because I'm excited to start something new … but something familiar.**

**So … until then. I hope you all enjoy whatever life has in store for you and that you enjoy this last chapter of After the Music.**

**It's been great!**


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